Solo Canoe Vs Conversion

[Wayne SW/MO]

You might reverse the Craigslist and advertise your interest.

[rps]

Just a thought: I am very happy with my Native Watercraft Ultimate 12. You can modify the seating to sit higher - as in a canoe - with the addition of a cushion under the very comfortable chair/seat. Check it out. There are old threads dealing with them as well.

[goggleeyes]

Have thought about the native watercraft 14 as well, it looks like a pretty good boat. I will continue to check things out. Thanks for you input on this. Several heads are better than one , helps you see different sides.

[ColdWaterFshr]

If you weigh 275, forget about those solo canoes. Seriously. I would go with nothing less than a upper 15-16 ft tandem canoe, float it backwards - sitting yourself in the bow seat which is closer to middle and facing toward the stern - and adding some weight, rocks or gear, to the front (the stern). With more surface area in contact with the water, you will drag less and paddle w/ less effort than trying to put yourself into a smaller, wider boat. You would do well with just about any middle of the road, recreation platformed canoe from Old Town, Mohawk, Buffalo, Wenonah, Dagger, Mad River . . . yeah, Royalex is better, but don't frown on the Crosslink III -- its tough stuff-- even though heavier. I weigh sub-200 and my OT Disco 158 has been a very serviceable solo boat when paddled as mentioned above, it ain't THAT heavy. An OT 147 is too small for you and I'm pretty sure those Native boats would be too.

[Al Agnew]

Rule of thumb number one...a dedicated solo canoe WILL paddle much easier, turn easier, and be just as fast or faster than any tandem canoe. Paddling a solo is a joy, paddling a tandem solo is work.

Rule of thumb number two...at some point, most solos will not take any more weight without losing much of the advantages mentioned in rule of thumb number one.

275 pounds pretty much means you can't go with a small solo, and even a medium sized one if you're carrying a lot of gear. I've paddled my Vagabond many times with my own 170 pounds plus a whole bunch of camping gear, and it actually handles really well under such a load, but all that weight combined probably wouldn't add up to your 275 plus a normal amount of fishing gear.

The real problem is that there just aren't many opportunities to paddle various craft before buying. A Wenonah Wilderness might be a good solo for you...much more volume than the Vagabond. You might also like the Wenonah Solo Plus...it would definitely handle your weight as a solo craft. But I couldn't say anything else definitely about either of those two before you tried them.

So I'm thinking that ColdWaterFisher might have the best idea...a good 15-16 ft. rec tandem. You don't want anything over about 33 or 34 inches wide, because such a boat is simply too wide to be efficient to paddle from the center seat position. If you don't mind spending the money, Royalex is definitely the way to go, although weight is the only real disadvantage to the polylink discovery type plastic.

Actually, I've paddled my Old Town Penobscot 16 solo, and a lot of people like them as solo craft. It's pretty expensive, but might work well for you.

[ness]

I think the suggestions for a longer boat are on track.

I've got a 16'6" Wenonah Solo Plus, but I can't tell you whether it would work or not. I've paddled it with myself and two kids (front and back) with a total weight over 275, but that's spread out. I also just took myself, one kid and a bunch of gear down the Eleven Point. I'm about 215, son about 90, and gear, but again it was spread out. It's a great canoe solo, just ok all loaded up.

I know Wenonah really takes things seriously, and has a lot of good info on their site and in their catalogs about selecting the right boat. You might check that out or give their customer service a call. I'm sure this isn't the first time it has come up, so it might be covered in their FAQs. If they can't help, call another top canoe company (Bell, OT, Dagger) and ask them. Or, call a specialty paddling shop. They might even let you try one out at a lake or something. KC Paddlers in ... guess where ... Kansas City would talk with you. I know they take a bunch of boats out to a local lake periodically to let people try them out.

[Wayne SW/MO]

You don't want anything over about 33 or 34 inches wide, because such a boat is simply too wide to be efficient to paddle from the center seat position.

This is true. I don't want to get foul mouthed here, but a double kayak paddle will negate some of this.

Personal I don't think the Guide would be that bad, while its far from perfect when you consider the price it might well work for you. If you're looking primarily at the James and the Finley for day fishing, you'll be doing a lot more drifting than paddling.

You might also shoot a Pm to Fishnwrench and Ollie on this board, they both have experience in the 147 guide. Ham, on this board, has a good friend who had/has one, but i don't know if he is a visitor here. Ham could help you.

[RSBreth]

I've done the "tandem canoe flipped backwards" thing sometimes for lake fishing with my old 'bomber" 15-ft coleman, but I'd hate to have to maneuver it down a technical river, or even the relatively sedate Finley and James. If you already had the 147 I'd say go for it, but considering you're wanting to buy something and get it right from the beginning.

You'll have to probably paddle whatever you think will work first. Being a little bigger makes the choice harder, but I don't know why you couldn't find something.

[Flysmallie]

I've done the "tandem canoe flipped backwards" thing sometimes for lake fishing with my old 'bomber" 15-ft coleman, but I'd hate to have to maneuver it down a technical river, or even the relatively sedate Finley and James. If you already had the 147 I'd say go for it, but considering you're wanting to buy something and get it right from the beginning.

You'll have to probably paddle whatever you think will work first. Being a little bigger makes the choice harder, but I don't know why you couldn't find something.

I have floated the James a bunch in a 169 tandem turned around. Also had it down the Gasconade and Current with no problems. I'm not moving the seat closer to the middle because I kind of like sitting further back. It's not hard to get the weight equaled out with some gear in the front (back) and I'm just a little over that 275 mark. I also have a buddy with a Guide 147 that paddles it solo a lot. He loves it.

[Al Agnew]

A lot of paddling ills can be solved with the right double blade paddle, but for a canoe more than 33 inches wide you need a really long kayak paddle, much longer than the normal kayak paddle. And the problem still is that you can't easily get the paddle vertical for some of the useful strokes. For the way I fish as I go down the river, a wide canoe negates being able to use the kind of one-handed strokes I do for slight positioning and course corrections while my fishing rod is in the other hand, and also the useful strokes that require a near vertical paddle in the water.

CAN you solo a wide canoe? Sure. CAN you use a tandem canoe from the front seat turned around backwards? Sure, if the thwarts are in the right places. BUT, if you do a lot of solo paddling and FISHING on the streams of the Ozarks, you WILL be much more efficient if you have a narrower canoe and you're sitting near the middle of it. I'll say it again...paddling and fishing from a solo canoe is easy, and thus fun. Paddling and fishing by yourself in a tandem, especially a wide tandem, isn't nearly as easy, and not nearly as much fun. I've floated and fished fairly extensively from 6 or 7 different solo canoes and I've soloed 5 or 6 different tandems, both from center seats and from the front seat backwards. There's no comparison between a canoe that is sized right for you as a solo paddler and a tandem that you can make do.