Hou Prospector
The Hou Prospector is a versatile, British-made open canoe renowned as the ultimate all-rounder. Measuring just over 15 feet in length, it beautifully bridges the gap between a solo day boat and a roomy tandem tripping canoe, easily adapting from flat-water lakes to bouncy whitewater.
Hou Canoes are currently running a Duralite Special in partnership with The Boathouse. This is on selected Hou Canoes boats such as the Hou Phoenix, Prospector and 13. See the description drop down for more info or click here to see the Duralite Special.
Product Overview:
Hull material: Polyethylene three-layer foam core sandwich.
Standard Spec: Tandem set up with two seats and carrying yoke.
Hull shape description: The Hou Prospector canoe is based on the traditional Prospector hull shape which was originally developed by the north American Prospectors. They wanted a boat that would work well on exposed open lakes, flat water rivers, as well as the bouncy white-water rivers they needed to navigate. The boat also had to work well with no load and fully loaded, not an easy brief. But they did it, the Prospector hull shape was born, and hundreds of years later we still want the same from our canoes, and this classic shallow arch hull shape still delivers to this day. It works well on all types of water as well as if we load up for an expedition, or just a day trip.
We have refined the shape over time for modern materials and this boat does everything you would ever want it to. This makes it possibly the best selling 3-layer PE boat available today.
The Hou Prospector is well suited for paddlers of all abilities, it will look after newcomers to the sport and also is enjoyed by experts too due to its ease of use, stability, and manoeuvrability. The boat makes easy work of a day trip for one to three people or can be used for a weeklong expedition, it relay is the boat that does everything you ever ask it to.
We are proud to be a British company, manufacturing in Britain, not just putting together an imported non assembled boat which ensures we have the highest levels of quality control and product longevity. When you are ready to order your Hou Prospector, please do let us know if you have any custom options or adjustments to the standard set up and we will be glad to help you out.
Usage:
Who: The Hou Prospector is great for all abilities from beginner to advanced skilled canoe paddlers.
What: The best ‘all round’ canoe that will work well for fun day trips with a picnic and the dog, right through to multi day expeditions.
Where: This boat works well in all waters, flat water, open water and the bouncy white water too!
Legacy Hou Canoes
Please note that some images show legacy Hou models and may feature previous Hou Canoes branding and older components, including gunwales, seats and yokes. Current Hou Canoes are now available with the same range of outfitting options as our Silverbirch Canoes. We still offer ongoing support for Legacy Hou Canoes, therefore if you have any enquiries regarding spare parts or repairs for a Legacy or current Hou Canoe model, contact us using the workshop services form.
For current Hou Canoes parts, visit the Canoe Parts & Repair Kits Page.
An Insight Into Canoe Set Up Options, Materials & Outfitting
An Insight Into The Duralite Special
Deliveries
Once your boat is ready, delivery to mainland UK addresses usually takes 10–15 days. We'll contact you to arrange a convenient delivery date and time once production is complete.
If you prefer, you're also welcome to collect your canoe directly from our facility.
See full delivery details here.
Warranty
Typically, 1st quality boats have a 2-year manufacturer’s warranty for personal use (B2C) – covering defects in materials and workmanship under normal use.
Specifications
| Quality | Premium or 2nd Quality |
| Construction | Duracore plus or Duralite |
| Colour | Blue or Forest or Firebrick Red or Purple |
| Yoke | Standard Yoke or Deep Dish Yoke or No Yoke |
| Trim Height | Low-Line Trim or High-line trim |
| Kneeling thwart | No kneeling thwart or Fitted kneeling thwart |
| Seating | 2 x wood/web seats or 3 x wood/web seats or 2 x Wood Web Front Sailing Seat |
| Gunwales | Vinyl Gunwales or Ash Gunwales |
| Lacing | None or End Black or Full Black or End Yellow or Full Yellow or End Orange or Full Orange or End Red or Full Red or End Electric Blue or Full Electric Blue or End Pink or Full Pink or End White or Full White or End Purple or Full Purple or End Grey or Full Grey or End Forest or Full Forest or End Lime or Full Lime or End Blue or Full Blue |
| End grabs | No rope end grabs or Yellow with black fleck or Orange with black fleck |
| Packaging | Sleeved or Bubble wrapped or Unwrapped |
| Internal Colour | White (standard) |
| Model | Polyethylene |
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