I was wondering what your thoughts were on the best strip boat for solo lake travel?
Thanks,
Moonman.
Best Solo Lake Boat
Best Solo Lake Boat
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering what your thoughts were on the best strip boat for solo lake travel?
Thanks,
Moonman.
I was wondering what your thoughts were on the best strip boat for solo lake travel?
Thanks,
Moonman.
Solo lake canoe
I am not saying this is the best, because I have limited knowledge of other solo canoes, but here is my input. I have built a number of the puddle ducks from Gilpatricks book and this is my favorite canoe. I cut the stems down about 1.5 inches. The nice thing about this boat is its versatility. It is great as a solo canoe, but will also hold two adults. It is a symmetrical canoe, so it can be set up as a tandem, but for soloingone can use the bow seat, facing the stern for soloing. My finished version weighs just over 50 lbs and is super easy to portage.
I also have a 11.5 foot wee lassie, and I am a big fan of the double paddle canoe because of the efficiency. There is also a Wee Lassie II out there that is 13.5 feet long, I have the plans but no time yet to build one. If you are looking for a dedicated solo canoe, you should at least look at the double paddle canoes. I weigh 200 lbs and have paddled my wee lassie with my 45 lbs son sittingin front of me it handled this load pretty good. I also have a friend that weighs 245 lbs and he paddles my wee lassie every chance he gets. There is not much freeboard when he is in it but it handles this weight pretty well. The wee lassie is a very stable canoe because you sit low.
Other options are the Merlin and 38 special.
I think your size is a big consideration, so you may want to post it to help narrow down the options.
I also have a 11.5 foot wee lassie, and I am a big fan of the double paddle canoe because of the efficiency. There is also a Wee Lassie II out there that is 13.5 feet long, I have the plans but no time yet to build one. If you are looking for a dedicated solo canoe, you should at least look at the double paddle canoes. I weigh 200 lbs and have paddled my wee lassie with my 45 lbs son sittingin front of me it handled this load pretty good. I also have a friend that weighs 245 lbs and he paddles my wee lassie every chance he gets. There is not much freeboard when he is in it but it handles this weight pretty well. The wee lassie is a very stable canoe because you sit low.
Other options are the Merlin and 38 special.
I think your size is a big consideration, so you may want to post it to help narrow down the options.
I built the Huron Cruiser and use it as my primary solo now, since it's large enough to carry tripping gear and has the traditional good looks that go well with cedarstrips. It also can be used as a fast tandem, although the gear capacity is reduced. There's enough initial stability for relaxed fishing and sitting to stretch out occasionally. The round bottom helps reduce pitching and tossing when waves are rough and it paddles easily enough against winds. There's secondary stability built in to heel it over close to the gunnel and still feel reasonably secure while increasing rate of turn. Paddled closer to level, it tracks straight, good for lakes.
Northwest's Merlin or the larger version, the 38 Special, is a very fast rockerless lake solo, reported to be very efficient and still stable. I haven't tried it but it's on my possibles list. I have no idea how it'll perform heeled over, or how it reacts to winds and waves, but those could be problem areas. However, it seems to have pleased a lot of paddlers in the Minnesota-Quetico area.
Green Valley's Osprey has quite a bit of rocker built in and turns much more easily than the Huron. I still haven't tried it in rough water, but reports from others are that it's stable and responsive enough to handle well in waves. It's smaller and might be too small for a large paddler with gear, OTOH, this can allow for a very light hull making portaging easier. Some paddlers prefer strongly-tracking designs for lakes and others go with more heavily rockered hulls such as the Osprey for more response and control. One downside of the rocker is that it can tend to reduce speed and paddling efficiency. The upside may be better stability and control in waves.
Larger canoes such as the Freedom 17 or the 16' Prospector can also make good solos if a large capacity hull is needed for carrying large amounts of gear on long trips, but these are probably too large to be considered solos. There are also other solo designs out there and hopefully others will add their comments... all this choice makes it difficult to pick just one and if I were to choose a dedicated solo at the moment it would be either the 38 Special or the Osprey. I went with the Huron for versatility, since I also needed a fast tandem at the time, but the option to build an even better solo is still there... what will it be?
Northwest's Merlin or the larger version, the 38 Special, is a very fast rockerless lake solo, reported to be very efficient and still stable. I haven't tried it but it's on my possibles list. I have no idea how it'll perform heeled over, or how it reacts to winds and waves, but those could be problem areas. However, it seems to have pleased a lot of paddlers in the Minnesota-Quetico area.
Green Valley's Osprey has quite a bit of rocker built in and turns much more easily than the Huron. I still haven't tried it in rough water, but reports from others are that it's stable and responsive enough to handle well in waves. It's smaller and might be too small for a large paddler with gear, OTOH, this can allow for a very light hull making portaging easier. Some paddlers prefer strongly-tracking designs for lakes and others go with more heavily rockered hulls such as the Osprey for more response and control. One downside of the rocker is that it can tend to reduce speed and paddling efficiency. The upside may be better stability and control in waves.
Larger canoes such as the Freedom 17 or the 16' Prospector can also make good solos if a large capacity hull is needed for carrying large amounts of gear on long trips, but these are probably too large to be considered solos. There are also other solo designs out there and hopefully others will add their comments... all this choice makes it difficult to pick just one and if I were to choose a dedicated solo at the moment it would be either the 38 Special or the Osprey. I went with the Huron for versatility, since I also needed a fast tandem at the time, but the option to build an even better solo is still there... what will it be?
I built the Osprey by John Winters with a sliding seat.Slide it back and you get the full effeect of the bow rocker. Slide it forward and the cheeked bow digs in and it tracks. Like having two canoes in one!
If you don't want an "all around boat" take a look at Bear Mountains solo. It looks like a straight, go fast in the Wenonah style. A Merlin or Merlin 38 wouldbe good also.
If you don't want an "all around boat" take a look at Bear Mountains solo. It looks like a straight, go fast in the Wenonah style. A Merlin or Merlin 38 wouldbe good also.
someday I'll fly, someday I'll soar