Solo canoe thoughts

[Al Agnew]

On 9/24/2021 at 11:33 AM, Gumboot said:

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

Probably you should do a little experimenting.  The Morningstar is 32 inches wide at the gunwales and 36 inches wide maximum--it has some tumblehome.  That's not bad for paddling solo, and it MIGHT be perfect with the seat placed so that the front edge of the seat is very close to the center of the canoe.  I generally like that seat placement and have moved the seat on several of my solos over the years to that position.  It's generally best for tracking, initial stability, and all around handling.  But you might find that placing the seat in the widest part of the canoe makes it a bit more difficult to get efficient paddle strokes (in most efficient strokes, the closer your paddle is to vertical during the stroke, the better, and wide canoes make you have to reach farther out to the sides to get a good angle on your strokes).  So it might turn out to be a bit better to keep the seat so that the front edge is 6 inches to a foot behind the center.  

Of course, you'll have to move the center thwart, and when you remove the seats from their present placement you will have to replace them with thwarts as well or the Royalex may begin to warp because of not enough support.  When you do that, give it a lot of thought and experimentation with placing gear, rods, etc...if you have to move things around anyway, you might as well move them to the perfect positions for your purposes!

[Gavin]

A Bell Morningstar is a fine boat. It is yours to do what you want with, but it's always going to be around 6" too wide to be a good solo canoe. I'd send it down the road before I hacked it up like that. Might take you awhile to find a used solo canoe, and you may have to travel to get it, but you will find one. Good luck.

[Bushbeater]

I had a Old Town 164 which we used as both a solo and tandem. When solo I'd sit in the front seat facing back. I found it to paddle and fish better than the 14' Old Town my son bought. An outfitter destroyed my canoe by dragging it down the highway and never really made good on replacement or repair. I've been looking for another 164.

[David Unnerstall]

On 9/23/2021 at 7:47 PM, Flysmallie said:

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

I second this.  And it is convenient for hauling lumber.

[Gumboot]

13 hours ago, Al Agnew said:

Probably you should do a little experimenting.  The Morningstar is 32 inches wide at the gunwales and 36 inches wide maximum--it has some tumblehome.  That's not bad for paddling solo, and it MIGHT be perfect with the seat placed so that the front edge of the seat is very close to the center of the canoe.  I generally like that seat placement and have moved the seat on several of my solos over the years to that position.  It's generally best for tracking, initial stability, and all around handling.  But you might find that placing the seat in the widest part of the canoe makes it a bit more difficult to get efficient paddle strokes (in most efficient strokes, the closer your paddle is to vertical during the stroke, the better, and wide canoes make you have to reach farther out to the sides to get a good angle on your strokes).  So it might turn out to be a bit better to keep the seat so that the front edge is 6 inches to a foot behind the center.  

Of course, you'll have to move the center thwart, and when you remove the seats from their present placement you will have to replace them with thwarts as well or the Royalex may begin to warp because of not enough support.  When you do that, give it a lot of thought and experimentation with placing gear, rods, etc...if you have to move things around anyway, you might as well move them to the perfect positions for your purposes!

Thank you Al for that detailed explanation.  I think I'm leaning towards Gavin's solution as I'm 5'6" and moving the seat to widest point will not work well for this squatty body.  It is a nice boat and I'd probably butcher it up doing what needed to be done.  Thanks again.

[Fishfighter]

On 9/23/2021 at 9:38 AM, Alex Chang said:

any updates on your experiences with the fox 14? I'm considering it, but I like to fish (main reason for the canoe) and a little concerned about the limited primary stability. I also plan to pack it down for over night trips as well.

 Sorry I missed this.  Been real busy.  But yes, I still have the Nova Craft. Its a great canoe.  Handles great, fast, the "percieved initial stability" is lacking which takes some getting used to.  Biggest lesson was getting enough weight in it. I don't use it as much as I want but I have many canoes, kayaks and a boat so I like to use a variety of them.