Review: Dagger Sojourn
by Rich Furman
In the quest for a solo canoe, I test-paddled many boats: Mad River’s Guide and Independence, Souris River’s Tranquility, Old Town’s Pack, and the Bell Canoe Works Merlin II. The canoe I finally settled on was Dagger’s Sojourn. In the final analysis, it was the canoe that best fit my needs, desires, and price point.
One day as I was car-topping my Sojourn, Bob Brown commented to me that it was the best all-around Royalex solo canoe on the market. Having paddled the MR Guide and the OT Pack, I would have to agree. The hull design of the Dagger Sojourn is the most versatile of the lot, and the construction quality easily outclasses the OT Pack. It seems that no matter what you want to do with it, the Sojourn has a design characteristic to make it happen.
The hull is designed for versatility. It has 1/2" rocker at the bow and no rocker at the stern. The rocker in the front makes the canoe nicely maneuverable. It is extremely responsive to steering strokes such as a bow draw and C-Stroke. Yet, on a windy day, it tracks straight because the non-rockered stern acts as a skeg at speed. This makes it a much nicer boat for lakes than the heavily-rockered Guide, which weathervanes very easily on a windy lake. The Sojourn’s shallow arch doesn’t offer very much in the way of initial stability, but its secondary stability is first-class. It can be leaned clear to the rails without tipping, making it a good choice for freestyle, as well as lake cruising. On the river, this hull holds its own too. The Royalex slides over rocks and the slight rocker gives an essential edge in maveuverabilty. It sideslips easily too.
One of my greatest concerns about traveling to the Boundary Waters in solo canoes was whether we would be able to take our Stormy Bay Wanigan, a big rigid food box that we were introduced to by Bea Brophy of B’s Wilderness Paddlers. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the big food locker nestles quite satisfactorily behind the stern thwart once you get its flange past the gunwales. Overall, it can easily take that, a Duluth Pack or two, and a day pack—sufficient for more than a week’s worth of wilderness travel.
The quibbles that I have with the Sojourn are few, but they are worth mentioning. It comes standard with an underseat water bottle. While I am sure this is a nice touch for those who sit in their canoes, for us kneelers it makes the space under the seat a bit crowded. Fortunately, it is easily removed, being held in place by four short screws. Also, the seat is hung a bit low for those of us who like to kneel. This is easily remedied by trimming an inch or so off of the trusses. On the bright side, the trusses supply a pleasant forward cant, allowing the kneeling paddler contact with the whole seat rather than just the front edge.
The only remaining concern I have is the gunwales. They are available in either vinyl or ash. Although there are those who would argue the point with religious fervor, I find that ash gunwales require more care than my personal style allows, so I got the vinyl gunwales. These gunwales have an aluminum insert for the attachment of seats, thwarts and such. But in order to access the insert, one must first drill through the vinyl. After the thwart, seat, or whatever is attached, one covers the hole in the vinyl with little plastic plugs. Dagger supplies two with each boat. My preference would have been plain aluminum gunwales like on my OT Penobscot. But the vinyl gunwales are serviceable.
All in all, I have been very pleased with my Sojourn; the changes I would make are trivial. I would recommend this boat very highly for someone who is looking for a versatile tripping canoe that can be taken across lakes and down rivers. It is also superb for the lakes around town and responds well to both freestyle and NATT style paddling.
