Cape Charles 17

Cape Charles 17 Review

The Cape Charles is a large, roomy, comfortable sea boat. With a lot of volume and a high rear cockpit coaming it is difficult to roll, but the volume is an advantage on multi-day trips. It has a nice balance between tracking and turning. In spite of being a bit beamy at 24 inches, it is a fairly fast boat. The standard wooden hatches are not completely watertight; I always use dry bags for anything critical. The biggest flaw is that the Cape Charles will bury it's bow in waves. The sharp entry doesn't include much volume and the flat sheerline doesn't raise the bow much. Once the bow goes under, the deck, which is fairly flat that far forward, doesn't shed water fast, so it comes back until it hits the raised hatch and sprays in the paddlers face. Refreshing on a hot day, maybe not so on a cold one.

The Cape Charles is no longer produced as a kit, having been replaced by the Chesapeake 17 which addresses the low bow volume of the Cape Charles.

I always choose my Cape Charles 17 on days when I know I am going to be in the boat a long time without breaks or when I need to make time (and get wet) in rough water.

Mike Scarborough