FAQ

Certainly!  We used to distribute to a network of dealers but have now chosen to supply directly to customers.  This way we can ensure that customers are getting the best information and advice which will best suit their needs.  We can ship to nearly anywhere in Australia.

Yes! We offer a regular hire (with delivery) and a take-away hire service from our location in Kangaroo Valley, NSW through our sister company Valley outdoors. To learn more, check out our Hire, Instruction & Tours page. We have a range of Silverbirch rotomoulded and Wenonah Ultralight canoes available for you to take on anything from half-day to multi-day adventures.

Our boats are manufactured/crafted in the UK (Silverbirch), USA (Wenonah) and Canada (Swift) and are all built to suit a range of paddling styles and types.

Here at Paddle and Portage Canoes we believe in getting you the right boat to meet your needs and keep you passionate about paddling. As such, we have chosen brands that allow different levels of customisation. Read more about this on our customisation page.

With the outbreak of COVID in late-2019/early-2020 this question has become harder to answer. In short, it is different for each manufacturer. If you wish to make an order we ask for a 50% deposit upon making the order with the manufacturer. To learn more about current wait times please contact us directly via phone or email.

We have an extensive demo fleet that allows our customers to get a feel for how our boats paddle. The fleet does not include all models we offer but is strategically constructed to have canoes that will allow you to get a good idea of how any of them would paddle. Our sales team have extensive knowledge of all models and how they paddle and can explain the subtle differences of each model and how they differ to find the right canoe for you.

We've worked out how to ship our products to nearly every location across this gigantic country! However, some areas are just not able to be reached. In most cases we use designated canoe/kayak couriers to transport our boats. Please see our shipping page for more info.

We certainly do! We offer a range of instruction to suit absolute beginners to experts. All of our staff are trained and qualified paddlers with enormous amounts of personal and professional experience. You can find out all about our training courses on the Hire, Instructions & Tours page.  If you don't see the course that suits you then we're happy to create a bespoke offering just for you.

These canoes are used in hire fleets unsupervised all around the world. They are referred to as "infinitely repairable" and any repairs are both easy to do and stronger than your standard plastic weld that would be done on other boats.

Yes, they are easy to fix and fortunately, fairly hard to break. If ever required, some simple repairs can be performed at home with fantastic cosmetic results. Other, more complex repairs can be completed by a professional composite repair-person. Fortunately, it's not hard to find these people! We have a growing network of professionals who we are happy to recommend. The good news is that since we started importing composite canoes back in 2010, we have had very few repairs conducted - all minor.

For canoes, the best way to transport them is upside-down with the gunwales (side-rails) down against the roof bars. Most roof-bars are suitable for this use - a reputable brand with a solid rubber strip on top provides the best peace-of-mind with a solid platform upon which the canoe can be strapped.

The easy answer to this is that you'll likely never exceed the capacity of any of our canoes.  As the "maximum capacity" figure is a theoretical number it is sometimes unfairly used as a comparitive tool between "brand A" and "brand B" to determine which is most suitable.  For that reason, both Wenonah Canoe and Silverbirch don't publish a figure for capacity.  However, if you speak with us we can quite accurately describe (from personal experience) how much gear and people each canoe can handle.  Yes, pictures can be provided so that you can visualise this.