solo canoe for both sitting and kneeling

[oldie moldy]

I don't have one of those light nimble solo canoes, but I can sure understand giving some serious thought to being able to get your feet out from under the seat if you dumped.
I have three different pairs of those "water shoes" and I like them all. The original idea was so I could wet-foot launch my canoe. I tried various ways of packing and launching and finally said "to heck with it" and splashed on in. Now I just accept that I'm wet from mid-shin down. Anyways, I can't imagine how I could get my foot caught if I had a pair of water shoes on. A regular pair of boots are a whole different thing.

Something to think about anyway...

Rob

 

[joebh]

I have large ankles which are not very flexible and foot entrapment was an issue I worried about on the Bell Rob roy with kneeling thwart
I get stiff as I have gotten older sitting for hours in my Kaskazi kayaks which have a snug fit like a surf ski so I wanted a dual kneeling/sitting canoe to allow paddling in different positions.
However based several feedback postings , I should probably pick either a sit or kneel canoe, not a compromise.
Probably canoe with a seat is best for me. If a Keewadin 15 or Magic were to appear for sale in Florida , I will go check it out.
Thanks for the feedback
Joe

 

[Bearleealive]

If you want to be able to handle kneeling for longer lengths of time. I highly recommend doing some yoga. I used to kneel for no more than a minute, tops. Usually while I ran a big rapid. After doing a fair bit of yoga over the last few years, I can now kneel for 5-10 minutes before needing to stretch, and could go more if pressed. Yoga also helps improve flexibility of lots of other body joints too.

That said, I do sit at least 90% of the time, but it is nice to know I can now comfortably do it if needed.

 

[charlie wilson]

While we want to be able to lower seats and move them forward for sitting; raise, cant, and shove them aft for kneeling, adjustability of seat height and cant as well as fore to aft trim in the same hull is a designer's bugaboo. Sliders are easy as GRE, Placid, Savage River, Sawyer, Swift, Wenonah and others offer. Mike Galt's Lotus single track side pod slider was more elegant than BlackHawks, but the latter had double track heights. Wenonah's plate unit adjusting height and cant is interesting but above comments are pretty accurate. As we add more functions, complexity, weight, cost and fragility increase geometrically. I'm a fan of fitting a seat high enough to kneel and dealing with slightly less than perfect stability when sitting because the unit is light, simple and inexpensive. All that said, stay tuned.....

 

[yellowcanoe]

Keep an eye out for good boats in Florida. There was a guy in Brookville who resold good composite boats. I got my Nomad in Brookville. Its set up for both kneeling ( Eds Bucket Seat) as well as a footbar for sitting.

Fast is not a boat attribute solely. If you have a boat with too much skin for your horsepower, you will lose the race. Thats why smaller paddlers travel best with smaller boats.

Like Holmes I bolted my rattly Wenonah seat in place. It will still adjust after I take the bolt out. But I want it in one position. On its own it tended to self adjust to its taste.. Not mine.

 

[joebh]

Where is brookville Florida and what is solo canoe dealer name?

 

[yellowcanoe]

Marvin Phelps but he is not a canoe dealer. Just buys canoes rehabs and resells them. I think he may be gone now though .. He was quite ill.
I used www.searchtempest.com and within 90 seconds found two Mohawk Solo 14s for sale. Plus a Lotus, (classic) in rough shape,

 

[Guest]

A Yellowstone solo popped up on Pnet today, in FL no less. Not sure how they are for sitting?

 

[Alan Gage]

A Yellowstone solo popped up on Pnet today, in FL no less. Not sure how they are for sitting?

The one that I owned briefly was sittable but it was a little twitchy in that position with the seat set high for kneeling. I don't think I'd want to sit in one for a long time, more like just something to give the knees a short break. And I had good balance back then as my normal paddling boat was an 18" wide racing kayak. But that was a few years ago, could have been better than I remembered.

Alan

 

[Guest]

Probably not going to be ideal as an open water canoe either.

 

[yellowcanoe]

The Yellowstone Solo is probably the boat that is most prevalent among improving paddlers at our canoe clinics,Sure you can sit in it. I have been trying to rassle one out of Machias because the owner is paddling it on the ocean and its probably not the best for volume for an ocean going canoe. However the owner is quite happy with it.
Among all the Royalex solos that were once offered, YS is one of the best. Take a look at the hull shape. Its designed that way on purpose for safety and seakindlness.

I'd paddle a YS on the Gulf with no hesitation..On the Atlantic with its different wave patterns maybe not.

Never mind the rocker and length and width measurements. They fall short of telling the whole story.

Remember folks you can always lower the seat. Its not made of stone.

 

[joebh]

While we want to be able to lower seats and move them forward for sitting; raise, cant, and shove them aft for kneeling, adjustability of seat height and cant as well as fore to aft trim in the same hull is a designer's bugaboo. Sliders are easy as GRE, Placid, Savage River, Sawyer, Swift, Wenonah and others offer. Mike Galt's Lotus single track side pod slider was more elegant than BlackHawks, but the latter had double track heights. Wenonah's plate unit adjusting height and cant is interesting but above comments are pretty accurate. As we add more functions, complexity, weight, cost and fragility increase geometrically. I'm a fan of fitting a seat high enough to kneel and dealing with slightly less than perfect stability when sitting because the unit is light, simple and inexpensive. All that said, stay tuned.....

Charlie does "stay tuned" mean swift is considering a better sit/kneel option for its solo canoes?

What are the tradeoffs between sitting on the floor and sitting on a raised seat beyond the obvious differences in stability and need for lower gunnel height to clear kayak paddle shafts
I see some Swift/Bell solo canoes models seem to offer both sit on floor and sit on raised seat options but i would think each option would require different gunnel heights to be efficient. The more efficient kayaks even offer tapered decks in front of the cockpit ( like tumblehome) to clear the kayak paddle while stroking ( such as the Epic kayaks and surf skis)