The Perfect Solo Canoe

[stinger160]

I'm going to meet up with Woodman and try to learn about building wood canoes. My goal, build the perfect solo canoe for fishing Ozark streams. I know this is a wide open subject, but what are some thoughts about "add ons" to make it perfect. Rod holders, cup/tool holders etc. Looking for some ideas to consider down the road.

Thoughts?

[eric1978]

Unfortunately, I don't think the "perfect solo canoe for Ozark streams" will be made out of wood, but it'll be a fun project for sure! I'd make it about 13ft long and as light as woodenly possible.

Here's what I did with mine, just for idears. If I were building a canoe from scratch, I would probably integrate the rod and cup holders into the design instead of making them accessories.

[Gavin]

I've been looking for a new solo...and this one might be it.

Wenonah Wilderness

Eric has a great looking setup...bought the only things I'd add would be a foot brace, dry storage, and an anchor system..Bow anchor so you can eddy out and fish back upstream, & a stern anchor so you can run a drag chain. Good luck with your project.

[Al Agnew]

All canoe designs are compromises between different characteristics. The longer and narrower the canoe is the faster and straighter it will paddle. The rounder the bottom is, the faster it will be. But longer, narrower, and rounder on the bottom means the initial stability will suffer. The straighter the bottom is when looked at in profile from front to back, the faster and straighter it will paddle, but if you need maneuverability the bottom must have rocker (turned up ends). All this is why "cruising" and "touring" canoes are long, narrow, no rocker, and whitewater canoes are short, wide, and plenty of rocker.

What this means is that an angling canoe has to be a compromise between those two extremes. Where the compromise comes in the continuum of design from whitewater running to flatwater cruising is pretty much up to the user. An angling canoe surely doesn't need to be a whitewater design, but most people won't want something that's really difficult to turn and exceptionally tippy, either.

In my opinion and experience, the best hull design I've found is the Wenonah Vagabond, at least for the average sized paddler. The Wilderness that Gavin wants is longer and deeper, with a higher volume, so it may be better for those who want a little more carrying capacity and a drier ride in the occasional rapid.

So let's look at the specs on those two canoes:

Vagabond

length--14 ft. 6 in. (actually, for the Royalex version it's 14' 3")

maximum width--29.75"

gunwale width--28"

waterline width--29.75"

bow height--16"

center height--12.5"

stern height--14.5"

rocker--1.25" front and back (actually, on the Royalex version the rocker only occurs in the last few inches, the rest of the bottom is essentially flat)

Wilderness

length--15 ft. 4 in.

max width--30.5"

gunwale width--27"

waterline width--29.75"

bow height--19"

center height--14"

stern height--17"

rocker--1.25" (I suspect the rocker is similar to the Vagabond in the Royalex version)

A few things stand out. The Wilderness has more tumblehome--the sides curve inward above the waterline, so that the gunwale width is less than the waterline width. This is done so that paddling from the center seat is a little easier; you don't have to reach out sideways as far. But tumblehome comes with a price--the inward curving sides means that the boat has much less secondary stability; meaning that once it starts to tip and gets up on those sides, it will roll on over like a log.

The higher sides on the Wilderness give it more volume and the ability to carry bigger loads. The higher ends shed standing waves better. But those higher ends also catch the wind worse.

The waterline width of the two canoes, the only part of the width that really matters to their handling characteristics, is identical. So, the Wilderness, being a longer canoe, will be a little faster but a little more tippy feeling.

Now...if I was designing a canoe, I'd start out with these two designs. First decision is length. All in all, I'd opt for a "true" 14.5 ft. length, not the 14'3" of the Vagabond nor the 15'4" of the Wilderness. I'd bring the sides up higher than the Vagabond, with a center depth of about 13 inches and end depths of 15 and 17 inches. I'd keep the waterline width at about 30 inches, and make the gunwale width about the same. I'd flatten the bottom in cross section just a bit to give the canoe a little more initial stability, and give the bottom just a bit of rocker, no more than an inch or so, but start that rocker about a foot from the waterline on each end.

Thing is, though, that there's no guarantee that this would end up being the "perfect" canoe, even for me. A lot also depends on the general shape of the canoe bottom. A canoe with very sharp entry and exit lines (the pointy ends at the waterline) that curve gradually to the widest part at the center will be faster and straighter to paddle than one with blunt entry lines that widen out quickly. Royalex is difficult to mold into sharp entry lines, so Royalex canoes (or any layered plastic, for that matter) tend to be slower because of that. Using the dimensions I suggested but giving the canoe sharper entry lines will change it considerably from what it would be if made of plastic. But, as a starting point, I think the specs I gave would get you in the ballpark.

[stinger160]

Great start! Given the commitment to make one, I will probably look to a known design to start

Great start! I think I am leaning toward taking a known design instead of risking making modifications that may not lead to what I hoped for. I plan to look more closely at the vagabond and may just duplicate that model in wood if possible, then customize the fishing stuff. Al, I think you did a lot of customizing on your canoe but couldn't find that old thread so if you have time, give me a refresher course.

[Al Agnew]

The thing about customizing is that all the stuff that you permanently add to the canoe adds weight and may make it harder to transport as well as carry. My philosophy on customizing is to do things that are easily removable, so that you can transport and carry the bare bones canoe and attach the other stuff once you get it to the water. Also, if you do something more or less built in and permanent, if it doesn't work out like you wanted you're kinda stuck with it. That's one reason I don't like all the hybrid craft with molded-in cup holders and dry storage, etc. Those things may not be where I want them, and they all add weight.

Most of the custom stuff can be bought. I actually go pretty bare bones with my canoes--I want a good seat back, and I want a good tackle storage system. I've tried other stuff like cup holders, thwart bags, straps to hold rods in place, anchoring systems, even a foot control trolling motor system, but have ended up discarding many of them because they were more trouble than they were worth. I still use a thwart bag occasionally and a cup holder once in a while. Go to Piragis Northwoods and you'll see all kinds of add-on canoe stuff that you'll think you need!

But mainly my tackle system consists of an auto battery box from Wal-mart, with velcro straps running through it from the open "top" to slits in the edge of the "bottom", so that you can strap it to the underside of your bench seat with the opening facing forward. Five Plano 3701 boxes fit into it snugly, and they lie flat and just above the floor of the canoe so they don't ever get water in them. I used to also use a smaller battery box in which four Plano 3600 boxes fit perfectly, and which I had a strapping system to attach to the thwart in front of me, but I finally decided last year that I didn't need to carry that much tackle. So occasionally if I happen to be carrying other things that I want within easy reach and off the bottom of the canoe, I'll strap a thwart bag from Piragis to that thwart instead.

As for my seat system, here's the thread where I showed it: http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=24313&st=0&p=156758&hl=canoe%20modifications&fromsearch=1&#entry156758 Also shows the tackle system.

[Gavin]

That Vagabond is a good flatwater boat, but it took in water occassionally...It needs a little more depth at the center line and a higher bow, IMO.I paddled one for years with no other issues.

[Al Agnew]

That Vagabond is a good flatwater boat, but it took in water occassionally...It needs a little more depth at the center line and a higher bow, IMO.I paddled one for years with no other issues.

Gavin is right that the Vagabond is a little low-sided, which is why I suggested above that you start out with the Vagabond hull but bring the sides and ends up an inch or two. However, the number of times you will encounter rapids heavy enough to put much water in a Vagabond on Ozark streams might be pretty low, unless you do a lot of floating on streams in fairly high water levels. In Missouri, about the only stream sections that I can think of that would have rapids heavy enough to flood a Vagabond at normal water levels would be the North Fork and Eleven Point, and even then it would have to be on the high end of normal. Of course, if you plan on floating the upper Buffalo in the spring, or the lower Buffalo through Clabber Creek Shoals in more than 150 cfs, or the Mulberry or Big Piney Creek in Arkansas, then you will get wet in a Vagabond. Or if you do smaller streams in high water, or the St. Francis in high water. Personally I've not had any problems with my Vagabond getting a lot of water in it, but I tend to avoid the big waves on the few occasions where I encounter them.

[woodman]

With all that side wall above the waterline on a canoe the wind is a factor, that is why I like the shallower kayak design and with a wide enough beam the seat can be raised without loosing stability...Maneuvering around fighting the wind and current to fish the streams can get frustrating at times..

With all the different hull designs I have completed it would be good to paddle each to get a better idea....tracking ..stability ..etc...

[Al Agnew]

With all that side wall above the waterline on a canoe the wind is a factor, that is why I like the shallower kayak design and with a wide enough beam the seat can be raised without loosing stability...Maneuvering around fighting the wind and current to fish the streams can get frustrating at times..

With all the different hull designs I have completed it would be good to paddle each to get a better idea....tracking ..stability ..etc...

No doubt wind can be more of a factor with the higher sides and ends of a canoe. Everything is a compromise, including the lower profile of a kayak, versus the many advantages of a canoe. We've hashed the canoe/kayak debate many times. Personally I like the much greater and more convenient stowage options of the canoe enough to put up with some wind issues now and then.