What are your current solo canoes and how do you like them?

1. Northstar Phoenix in IXP with red gel coat.
2. Bell Rockstar in Kev lite

Mike

Well, I had a DY Special that I strip built, 16' 8" lg, 32 lbs and a rocket ship. But as the years piled on, I realized it was too limited for my preferred paddling, and had some really nasty stern hook.



I decided I needed something more suited to twisty water and some whitewater, so I built a J. Winters Kite.
It was an excellent compromise hull, comfortable and maneuverable, NO stern hook, and fast enough. Quite seaworthy and a dry ride. Alas, I built it strong for whitewater use, and paid a 39 lb price for it with my back.




So I built a carbon copy of that Kite, literally. Same hull performance, but 28 lbs (I was shooting for 25 lbs). Much better for longer carries, but not nearly as pretty as the wood strip version.




I also have a Mohawk XL13 in Royalex, a fun whitewater boat, but at 65 lbs, doesn't get much use.
But I will say, it was the perfect hull for paddling the mid Boreas River...




I still have three of those solo boats, but not the DY which I sold about a decade ago.

Mad River Independence KH is my preferred flatwater solo for day paddling and tripping. Fast enough on the flats but very maneuverable and fun in tight twisty spots. Love that boat.


Bell Merlin II in carbon/kevlar. Bought as a winter rehab project to flip, but kept for my daughter and wife to use as it’s too small for me to trip with. Fits me well as a day paddler though. Very predictable with great tracking and secondary stability, but I just have more fun in my Indy.


Placid Boatworks Spitfire, the second one they ever made. Bought this fall as another winter rehab project, thinking it would fit my daughter better than the Merlin. Again, too small for me but did carry my 230lbs for a test paddle. I think it’s an awesome little DY designed pack boat that shares a lot of the Merlin’s characteristics in a shorter, more nimble hull. I couldn’t get used to the double blade, but it paddles fine with a really short single.


Millbrook Boats Ashuelot, formerly known as Patriot, formerly AC/DC Solo and currently my favorite boat. An old John Berry design you don’t see often. Mine is #12 and I believe it was the last one made. At 14’9” with about 3” of rocker, it’s pretty similar to my friend’s NC Supernova but narrower with fuller ends, but probably only because I asked Kaz to add as much flare to the ends as possible. A great high capacity solo river tripper.

Blackfly Condor. My class III-IV playboat. It’s rotomolded PE so it weighs a ton for an 11’ boat, but it’s pretty bulletproof, turns on a dime, fast and super dry. 10x drier than the Encore it replaced. The bulkhead outfitting isn’t as comfortable as my old Mike Yee thigh straps, but it doesn’t leave much room to take on much water. And, there’s a Li-ion bilge pump when it does.

Never had a dedicated solo boat, but the old 16 ft. Old Town Penobscot in royalex has served me well for over 30 years. For a royalex, it is fairly fast and with a double blade, I can almost keep up with a tandem crew, except on a windy day. By now it is a beater with numerous patches so I will be looking for a replacement and will keep following this thread for information and suggestions.

I have an Old Town pack canoe in ABS that is a nice solo boat but my favorite is a 15 foot Old Town from circa 1904 that is probably an HW model as shown below. (The build cards started in October, 1905 and this was made before that.) Their fifty pound models are a very close second. I once had four 15 foot long canoes at the same time. This seemed excessive so I sold the other three. The links below have more details about all four. There are also some sailing canoes that I commonly use alone but that is a different type of solo.

Benson

All these exotic boats….

Mine, a used Wenonah Wilderness in T-Formex. I bought this gently used boat about 3 years ago at a favorable price. I got it to take river trips on the rocky streams of Michigan’s UP. That hasn’t happened, but I now like to take spring and solo trips where I mostly base camp In secluded areas. At age 76 I am finding the 50+ pounds more than I care to portage. So I am thinking that given my usage, I may want to look for a nice light weight kevlar solo.

Most of my paddling is in a Wenonah J203. I have a Prism for tripping.

Benson Gray said:

my favorite is a 15 foot Old Town from circa 1904 that is probably an HW model as shown below

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Benson, what are you sitting on in that canoe.

Glenn MacGrady said:

Benson, what are you sitting on in that canoe.

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I'm simply kneeling and leaning against the center thwart. My sneakers are white so that makes it look like there could be a foam pedestal.

Benson

I only have two solos (for now)

-My first one is a Wenonah Prism, this is my daily driver and tripping boat


-My second is a Blackhawk Shadow 15’8”, I rarely pull this one out now, I should really sell it but can’t get myself to, it’s a beautiful boat with gorgeous wood, a nice “modern historical” piece


I have a looooooong list of solos I want to add to my “fleet”

Started out my return to canoeing in a Blackhawk Combi 15.8. Beautifully designed and easy to paddle 'small tandem/large solo'. Originally bought it thinking I only needed one boat. Great solo flat water tripper (or tandem day trips). Being a tandem it's best paddled solo Canadian Style, although not too wide for cross over strokes with little effort. Thought I was 'my boat'; until I paddled a friends solo, Bell Wildfire.

My first dedicated solo, and still favorite, is my Colden Wildfire. Does everything I like to do. My "go to" for day paddles or week long trips (It's my lightest). I love the layup and it's the prettiest boat in the world. (Did a lot of research, comparisons and test paddling prior to making this wonderful decision). I prefer symmetrical boats. I tend to wander about exploring shorelines, eddy's, logs and Lilly pads. Very maneuverable and tracks well with a good paddle stroke. Some who may not be comfortable in a canoe may find it a bit 'tender'.

Picked up a Royalex Bell Wildfire to save the wear and tear on my Colden. Until recently, this was my boat to paddle bony rivers. I added longer thwarts to increase rocker to be a bit more playful. Not a big fan of the differential rocker... that's just me, it's a great boat. Recently used on 6 day trip down the Spanish River (great trip).

Was fortunate to find a new to me Colden Dragonfly this summer. Love this boat! When I was on my search for a dedicated solo, it came down to the Dragonfly or Wildfire. The Dragonfly is my favorite river boat. It's deeper, seems drier in the splashy stuff; faster than the Wildfire when paddled, but to me, doesn't seem to glide as well (slows quickly if there's no paddle input, can be beneficial on moving water). After discussions with the previous owner, I've clearly been baby'n my Wildfire unnecessarily; Colden layups will stand up use. Don't paddle Royalex much since getting this boat...

Also paddle a Northstar ADK from time to time, when my wife lets me; it's hers! I was surprised on how well it handled with a single blade, tracks amazingly well for a 12' boat, obviously very maneuverable.

I do also have a Mohawk Shaman and Bell Ocoee; relatively new to WW, don't have much opportunity locally. Both are amazing designs and fun to paddle.

I'm a single blade paddler. Primarily straight shaft, bent shaft on flat water.

Welcome to the site BurkeJ, that's a nice fleet you've got.

I have 2 solos; the first is a Sawyer Summersong that I (somewhat shamefully) admit that I have never paddled. I bought it in anticipation of my Steel River trip but, after seeing how it handled for my son on the Conemaugh river, I decided to hurry up and get the stripper done. As the seller described it, it seems to be a great flat water boat but it doesn't like current (or maybe likes it too much?) and swamped quickly in rapids.

The stripper I built is the 16 foot version of the Freedom Solo by Bear Mountain. Overall, I am very pleased with this boat as it glides well, tracks well and did not seem tender at all (easily stable enough to stand & scout upcoming rapids). It stayed dry during some pretty choppy crossings and was reasonably maneuverable in rapids. I would certainly take it if I went back to the BWCA but plans for this year include more moving water so I'll be starting a Raven (more volume and rocker) build after the 1st of the year.

I currently have and love a Bell Magic. The wood trim is a pain in the arse to maintain, and replace every so often, but she is a keeper. We will be together until one of us can not do it any more.
Solos I owned and and did not love.
Mad River Monarch. Not for me, but easy to sell for a tidy profit.
Grass River Classic XL, nope.
Esquif Paradigm
various decked C-1s
Solos I had and would have again
Mohawk Odyssey 14, I just wore her out.....
Milbrook Defiant, just getting too old for that...
We-No-Nah Jensen 16
Solos I have in the fix, or sell pile
Mad River ME
Hornbeck lost pond.

I have a Keewaydin 15
I love the boat but HATE the center seat so most of the time I use my Porspector 16.

A second for the Wildfire (mine's a Bell)...about as good an all around composite as a WC Prospector would be for the traditional genre. Like symmetrical hulls and a fair amount of rocker.

I've only got two at the moment, cedarstrip Osprey and Raven. Hope to be down to one soon, as I think I have a buyer for the Osprey. I really feel at home in the Raven. I've been told the ABS Raven is a dog to paddle, but the cedarstrip version motors along very nicely. I really like the loose stems too. People either love or hate the Raven, usually with the haters being in the majority, but for me it's a piece of magic.

Nova Craft Supernova - This is my goto whitewater tripping canoe when boat abuse is a concern. Handles well with a load in WW up to class II-III. Mine is an older royalex model, so it's a beast to carry on portages. I also don't like the way it handles without a load.

Bell Yellowstone Solo (royalex) - I like this for day trips on winding streams. Mine is pretty scratched up, so I don't feel bad about taking on shallow, rocky streams.

Hemlock SRT - I like this for both tripping and day trips, but only if I don't have to worry about bashing into rocks or dragging over logs (it's too pretty and the hull seems too delicate for that). It's much more pleasant to portage than the Supernova.

Mad River Outrage X - I have two of these. The first is pretty beat, so I bought a spare a few years ago. I think the Outrage X is a great WW for larger paddlers.

Pakcanoe 150 - I bought this because I got a great deal on a used one a few years ago. To be honest, I have never paddled it. I have a tandem Pakcanoe 170 that I've used on remote fly-in trips in the far north. I was really impressed with the tandem 170, so I bought the solo 150, but thus far I haven't had occasion to use it yet.

Grabner Outside - This is a self-bailing inflatable canoe. I've used it on a 3 wilderness trips in the Brooks Range in Alaska and I've done the Grand Canyon and some challenging big-water WW in West Virginia in it. It's great for those purposes because it's durable, carries a load, folds up relatively small, and is great in big WW. It sucks for pretty much everything else.

You need the right tool for the job.

As I am most frequently paddling ww these days, my solo since October is a new Esquif Raven (no relationship to the Swift Raven) in blue T-Formex. This was one of my first times out in it on the Cl. II GW canal (Potomac River) just outside of downtown DC (Virginia side).

BurkeJ said:

Started out my return to canoeing in a . . . .

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BurkeJ, welcome to first post site membership!

Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Also, please add your location to your profile, which will cause it to show under your avatar, as this is a geographic sport. How to do that, and how to use many other of the site's technical features, are explained in Features: Help and How-To Running Thread.

That's a terrific array of solo WW and FW canoes and experience you have. We look forward to your continued participation in our canoe community.

The old guy - 1999 Swift Raven in Royalite. Capacious, durable, all around boat for lakes and rivers. Not a whitewater boat by modern standards. Has survived many routes which lacked water. Here on Buchanan Lake, Saskatchewan.




The new guy, 2023 PakCanoe 15 solo. I am impressed after its first trip. Tougher than I thought, capacious, dry, maneuverable, and quicker than I expected. Saved me a bundle on charter costs. Shown here at a lunch break on the Taltson River, NWT.



-wjmc