Solo canoe thoughts

[snagged in outlet 3]

2 hours ago, moguy1973 said:

How do those with pickups transport, say, a 15' canoe?  My truck has a 5.5' bed and even putting one of those at an angle it will stick out quite a bit if I would throw it in the back.  Ladder racks?

Drive down 44 on the weekend.  I wish I had pictures 😂

[Flysmallie]

3 hours ago, moguy1973 said:

How do those with pickups transport, say, a 15' canoe?  My truck has a 5.5' bed and even putting one of those at an angle it will stick out quite a bit if I would throw it in the back.  Ladder racks?

My buddy @Harpshas an extender that slides into his hitch receiver. We’ve hauled his 15 and my 17 all over the place. 

[Flysmallie]

1 hour ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Drive down 44 on the weekend.  I wish I had pictures 😂

Been a long time since I blasted down 44 in the Camry with a 17 foot canoe strapped to the top and an 15 footer on top of that. You do what you have to do. 

[Gavin]

I put a Thule Aeroblade on the cab of my truck, and the back of the canoes get supported by the back bar of my ladder rack (Trac Rac). I can have 2 canoes on top...bikes/coolers in the pickup bed, and tow a travel trailer at the same time. 12' kayaks fit well on the ladder rack. I only put the blade on for when I haul canoes because it creates some annoying wind noise. 

[ColdWaterFshr]

I've had Yakima's of various types for 30 years now, going back to cartopping an aluminum canoe on my '66 VW back in college.  They work well.  Tie down the bow at the very least, and stern too if you're not too lazy.  Buy good straps and replace them before they start to age.  Not complicated.  

A 12 foot canoe isn't really a canoe.  Its a bad combination of a canoe and a kayak.  Get a proper 15' or more canoe, and thank me later.  OR, get a kayak and wish you had more space and complain about your arse being soggy all the time.  

[Flysmallie]

9 hours ago, ColdWaterFshr said:

OR, get a kayak and wish you had more space and complain about your arse being soggy all the time.  

On the days I need more space I take a canoe. But a day float? The kayak wins hands down. And my butt doesn't even get wet. You just have to get the right ones. 

[Gavin]

I like my 15' Mad River Solo Canoe allot better than either of the two 12' sit on top kayaks that we own. It's faster, lighter, tracks better, you sit higher, and it has less tendency to roll in serious chop. There are no disadvantages on the water. That Esquif Echo (15' solo) looks like a really sweet boat, I'd go for that over that 12' solo. 

[Gumboot]

I have an older Bell Morningstar in royalex that I want to make it solo.  Where do I move the seat?

[Al Agnew]

Man, miss a couple days and a lot is going on that's right down my alley...

Solo canoe length--longer is better, up to a point.  In my opinion,  14 foot solo is the sweet spot for Ozark streams.  Long enough to stow your rods (unless all your rods are 7 footers) and to hold more gear for overnighters.  Also long enough that it will track reasonably well.  But short enough to be easier to handle, maneuver, and get through tight spots on small streams.  I paddled a 12 ft. Old Town Pack for a long time, and it was perfectly serviceable and a lot of fun as long as you didn't want to go anywhere really fast.  If you're just now thinking of buying a solo, there just isn't a lot to choose from these days with the demise of Royalex, so don't be turned off by a short canoe...it will work.

Canoe vs. kayak...every time I see somebody saying they prefer their kayak for day floats, I'm pretty sure their canoe isn't a good solo.  Comparing a kayak to a tandem canoe is comparing apples to hand grenades.  A decent solo canoe will do everything a kayak will do and do most of it better.  A tandem canoe is a means to the end of getting down the river if you're paddling it solo.  A solo canoe is pure fun.

Initial vs. secondary stability...in a way this is personal preference.  Some people like a canoe that feels really stable.  Others like the better paddling performance of one that might feel tippy (usually because it's narrower and longer) but has good final resistance to tipping over (usually because it has straight sides instead of tumblehome (sides curving inward, which is often a characteristic of wide canoes because it makes solo paddling easier).  Personally, I like a good compromise, medium length, medium width, straight sides.

Carrying canoes on pickup trucks...I've carried 14 ft. canoes in the bed of pickups with 6 ft. beds plenty of times...including in beds that had a cover that rolled up into a container in the bed and cut the bed length down another 8 inches or so.  Key is to lay it flat, right side up, in the bed, AND have a good place to tie it down at the TOP of the bed, so that the tiedowns are pulling the rear end UP as well as forward.  And put a red flag on the rear end!  But since I do so much canoeing, I put racks on my pickup.  And I searched a long time for perfect rack solutions.  What I have now is a Pace Edwards bed cover that rolls up, combined with Yakima Track Racks.  It's the only combination I was able to find where both the racks and the cover attached separately to the bed.

[top_dollar]

This stupid thread is about to cost me a bunch of money.