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

[adkjoe]

This is a boat I'd like to experiment with - pull in the sides a bit to see if it could get a bit deeper and narrowed. But every one I have seen used for sale is too new and too expensive to alter at the moment!

Ordered one last year in blue and it was $3000+. Honestly that boat isn’t work more than $1500 IMO. Too shallow and just a tad too heavy. So I canceled my order. But it is a sweet boat.

 

[NikonF5user]

Ordered one last year in blue and it was $3000+. Honestly that boat isn’t work more than $1500 IMO. Too shallow and just a tad too heavy. So I canceled my order. But it is a sweet boat.

Yeah - for that kind of money you're getting close to a Swift or Nova Craft Prospector 14. I believe the Echo may have been made in royalex at the very beginning of its production run, that is a boat I would particularly like to find...

 

[MrPoling]

I just scrolled up and realized I made this same exact post almost about a month ago! I guess if nothing else I am consistent!

I couldn't figure out how to search within a thread for just my postings. For example, to see if I posted a photo before to the photo of a day thread.

The search has a "posted by" feature, but it doesn't seem to work for replies.

 

[MrPoling]

I couldn't figure out how to search within a thread for just my postings. For example, to see if I posted a photo before to the photo of a day thread.

The search has a "posted by" feature, but it doesn't seem to work for replies.

Simple solution: use Google or DuckDuckGo, search for your name and thread title

 

[Black Dog]

My Solo Canoes
Savage River Illusion
First and only one made with wood trim Carbon Kevlar 26#
Bell Wildfire White/gold 34#
Mad River Indy Kevlar Skin 30#
Novacraft Supernova Royalex 54#
Bell Yellowstone Royalex 45#
All have their targeted uses but the Illusion is my go to for day tripping.
Just a blast to paddle on rivers.
Plus 4 Tandems for the family and Dog.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I couldn't figure out how to search within a thread for just my postings.

You go to the Search button on the top right of the page when you are in a thread, and then choose "This thread" from the search targets. Then just enter the screen name of the member whom you want to search for, including yourself. The results will show all that member's posts in the thread.

 

[NikonF5user]

My Solo Canoes
Savage River Illusion
First and only one made with wood trim Carbon Kevlar 26#
Bell Wildfire White/gold 34#
Mad River Indy Kevlar Skin 30#
Novacraft Supernova Royalex 54#
Bell Yellowstone Royalex 45#
All have their targeted uses but the Illusion is my go to for day tripping.
Just a blast to paddle on rivers.
Plus 4 Tandems for the family and Dog.

Holy cow that's a wonderful fleet! How does paddling that Supernova compare to the Yellowstone? I imagine it's a bit more playful. And the Illusion! That must be a FUN boat!!

 

[Idiot Savant]

I just scrolled up and realized I made this same exact post almost about a month ago! I guess if nothing else I am consistent!

I've probably repeated myself numerous times on this forum. It's hard to remember all the things you've said before.

 

[Black Dog]

Holy cow that's a wonderful fleet! How does paddling that Supernova compare to the Yellowstone? I imagine it's a bit more playful. And the Illusion! That must be a FUN boat!!

The Yellowstone is my least favorite because its skegged. The Superenova is fun but slow to respond. I use it for tripping on moving water which is what it was made for. The Illusion Rocks. Heels to the rail and spins on a dime. MY EDC !

 

[Art D]

I too think the Echo would be a good NFCT canoe. Been thinking about one.

Have one for sale. It has its share of use marks but is still a solid canoe. Bought it to do the Debsconeag loop and it was perfect for that. These days I’m obsessed with my wood canvas canoes so letting the Echo go. I’d let it go for $800 to a forum member.

 

[kona]

The Yellowstone is my least favorite because its skegged. The Superenova is fun but slow to respond. I use it for tripping on moving water which is what it was made for. The Illusion Rocks. Heels to the rail and spins on a dime. MY EDC !

I always prefer the wildfire after swapping from the YS. That said, I haven’t found a general purpose royalex solo with symmetrical rocker and hull design that I prefer over the YS. Been wanting to try the Mohawk Odyssey 14. And the Esquif Echo.

 

[DougK]

whitewater:
Dagger Caption, 14'4" and 70lb ow
outfitted for both solo and tandem, mostly solo these days as my wife has jumped ship and my boys are out of the house..
great big-water boat, here on Zoom Flume on the Arkansas, many years ago..



also works well for whitewater tripping which I don't do much anymore sadly.

Mad River Outrage 12' and 55lb
terrific playboat, stable and predictable yet also fast and quick-turning.
I have tripped in this, on the upper Salt R in Arizona, and upper N. Platte in CO/WY. Not an ideal tripper, have to pack lightweight backpack-style, but it works.
here in Montana at a slalom race, that gate gave me a lot of trouble and my first swims out of this boat in some years..



Empty Canoes SS, this is a Dagger Caper hull design made in composite. 45lb instead of the 70lb of my old Dagger..
Great boat but the composite is high maintenance in whitewater, put in 13 patches over the winter here.. though to be fair that was from the slalom races, I'm not usually that hard on boats.
No trips in this one yet. Our usual N. Platte trip hasn't gone for some years, between water levels and fires, hope to do it next on this one.
In the WI slalom last year,



My retirement boat (says he hopefully) should I live so long and still be paddling, Wenonah Vagabond, 14'6" and 40lb.
Faster than I'd expected and handles surprisingly well in a wind and wave. Planning 2 weeks in the BWCA the year I retire..
Detest the adjustable seat, need to do something about it.

 

[Sliding Focus]

I have two dedicated solo canoes: a Mad River Independence in fiberglass and a Bell Yellowstone Solo in Royalex.

The Indy was/is my first canoe, so I feel pretty attached to it and that surely colors my impression of it…but I love it! Something about the way it paddles just feels familiar and right to me, like it’s an old friend or how a canoe “should” feel in my mind. And it’s versatile—maneuverable enough to be fun to play around in, fast and capacious enough to make a great tripper, and secure-feeling in wind and waves. I also like that, for tripping, I can fit my 60L blue barrel crosswise behind the seat.

I picked up the Yellowstone Solo a couple of years after the Indy thinking that it would be more suitable for river trips, learning freestyle, and sharing with friends. It’s been excellent for those purposes and I’m very pleased with it. I don’t find it quite as compelling to paddle as the Indy, but it’s a fun canoe that does most things reasonably well.

In both canoes, I kneel >90% of the time, and I exclusively use a single blade paddle. In shallow water, quick water, and wind, or when I want to travel quickly, I use a Wenonah Cormorant (a Sugar Island style paddle that I think is probably a rebranded Grey Owl Voyageur). In deep water, I often like to switch to an animal tail paddle, of which I have two: a Clearwater (made by Sanborn for Rutabaga Paddlesports) and a Bruce Smith Solo Ottertail.

 

[gadabyte]

recently picked up a used SRT that i can't wait to paddle. came with a Conk seat, and though I normally dislike bucket seats I'm thinking about ordering one of the Hemlock kneeling bucket seats just so I can compare the two seats just in this boat (and because I worry about not being able to get one in the future, and regretting it). in any case, ice out can't come soon enough.

 

[eckilson]

My go-to solo is a Bell Yellowstone Solo. I bought it new in 2005 for $800. I have paddled it everywhere - rivers, lakes, even the ocean. I can put a week’s worth of gear for tripping, and can put bags and straps to run easy whitewater. If I could only have one boat, this would be it.

I also have a composite Bell Wildfire – 1997 white gold that I bought from a friend who was trimming down his fleet. It’s similar to the Yellowstone Solo, but easier to lean/edge/heal, and I like the symmetrical rocker.

My current whitewater solo is a MR Outrage. It sat in someone’s basement for 20-years before it was pulled out and re-out fitted. The owner still didn’t like it, so I ended up with it. Great boat, but I did put a crack under the pedestal that still needs to be repaired – Gorilla tape won’t last forever. It looked like a new boat, but it was still 20-year old royalex. Before that I paddled an Encore, and my starter boat was a Impulse.

On long flatwater sections I'll sit and and do a sit-and-switch stroke. For everything else, I kneel. Nice thing about a dedicated solo is that it is narrow enough to reach over and do cross strokes. I'm more of a cab-forward paddler, so I use a Werner Bandit paddle all the time.

 

[SouthernKevlar]

Hi Eckilson,
I am considering purchasing a used Millbrook Outrage canoe but I am at the upper end of the listed weight range at 180 lbs. I was wondering about how much you weigh and how much credence to put into the published MR weight range. It's about a five hour round trip drive to the seller.
I will probably still use my Old Town H2Pro for the bony stuff, but that 30ish lb. of the Millbrook versus the 70 lb. of my H2Pro (outfitted) will make those 1/2 mile carries to and from the river a LOT easier.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Dagger Caption . . . here on Zoom Flume on the Arkansas

With a (Herculean) Iliad paddle?

 

[eckilson]

Hi Eckilson,
I am considering purchasing a used Millbrook Outrage canoe but I am at the upper end of the listed weight range at 180 lbs. I was wondering about how much you weigh and how much credence to put into the published MR weight range. It's about a five hour round trip drive to the seller.
I will probably still use my Old Town H2Pro for the bony stuff, but that 30ish lb. of the Millbrook versus the 70 lb. of my H2Pro (outfitted) will make those 1/2 mile carries to and from the river a LOT easier.

Buy it. If it is 5-hours this way I might try to beat you to it. I'd love to have a composite Outrage. If I ever buy a new boat that will be it - I should probably do it now before Kaz retires.

I am 240 lbs and have no problem in the royalex version. Back in the day people would have said I am way too big for the Outrage and should paddle the Outrage X. No one says that these days. I do know one guy who paddles one - probably your size - no issues. This is the Upper Millers in MA.

https://flic.kr/p/RL2asM

 

[TrailBlaser]

I paddle a Sawyer Autumn Mist (since 1987) and a Hornbeck Classic 12 (since 2018).

 

[SouthernKevlar]

Buy it. If it is 5-hours this way I might try to beat you to it. I'd love to have a composite Outrage. If I ever buy a new boat that will be it - I should probably do it now before Kaz retires.

I am 240 lbs and have no problem in the royalex version. Back in the day people would have said I am way too big for the Outrage and should paddle the Outrage X. No one says that these days. I do know one guy who paddles one - probably your size - no issues. This is the Upper Millers in MA.

Thanks for the "weight" info, that helped me make up my mind. I also talked to the seller last night and he is right at my weight, so it sounds good. I will probably pick it up next week when our schedules coincide.
I've been considering a lightweight whitewater canoe for a while, but Millbrooks and others are RARE down here, even though I am close to the southern Appalachians. It's funny how Royalex gets so much heavier with age.