• Happy National Pie Day! 🍎🍒🫐🥧

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

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.
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.
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.
 

Attachments

  • 0910121101.jpg
    0910121101.jpg
    118.7 KB · Views: 5
  • 20220622_174142.jpg
    20220622_174142.jpg
    85 KB · Views: 5
  • PXL_20241018_193616433.MP.jpg
    PXL_20241018_193616433.MP.jpg
    157.8 KB · Views: 5
Back
Top