Bow ballast for solo paddling: the more unusual, the better

Dead meat does not complain. It stays in the bottom of the boat. It does not bark. It is a good listener.
But not much company.

I normally move seats before trips to ensure I can trim with gear. I don't like carrying extra weight.

When the kids were younger it was sometimes difficult to get enough gear and kids forward. We sometimes hung a pair of gallon water jugs across the bow the canoe, dangling on either side, in front of the carry handle. I don't have any pictures. It's about as far forward as you can get the weight.

I prefer to kneel. My solo doesn't have a fixed seat, so there's no trouble adjusting trim. I paddled a tandem with no seats for a while, that worked great in rivers with real white water. I could slide back to make sure the nose didn't plunge over drops, then slide forward to trim flat in the pools.

A dead animal is all you may need, if you have one laying around.

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Around here, if you're a DIY kinda guy, those are not terribly hard to acquire if one isn't just laying around.

Dead meat does not complain. It stays in the bottom of the boat. It does not bark. It is a good listener.
But not much company.

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IME, company is over-rated and the lack of companionship is overshadowed by the other attributes. On the other hand, live animals are easier to portage and many get upset when you start roasting "companion" animals.

This is what I use regardless of boat but I don't think it counts as solo paddling.

That looks like quite a bit of flexibility in ballast weight. Is each specific to a certain canoe or type of trip?

Gamma1214 said:

That looks like quite a bit of flexibility in ballast weight. Is each specific to a certain canoe or type of trip?

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Oh yes, of course. Coonhound mutt no longer with us but ideally suited to warm weather paddles of 2 hours or less in roomy solos. She fit especially well in deep boats that let her lay fore-aft. Aussiedoodle is a loaner and not really into paddling so ideally suited to leave at home; only 37 pounds of actual dog under that curly hair. Latest adopted 18 pounder fits in even low volume solos and can be happy in a sitting boat where your legs intrude on dog space...but doesn't like cold. My former black lab didn't mind heavy rain or snow and she could jump from canoe to canoe to visit friends so well-suited to group outings. She was ideal for trimming my Bell Northstar solo or tandem. She could easily handle long day trips but if I paddled three times in one day she'd avoid eye contact to try to skip the third paddle. There were several times that my lab jumped into an empty floating solo canoe behind my back at the put-in...which is basically impossible. She had a calming effect on people and wildlife so ideal for close encounters with critters.