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PostPosted: July 15th, 2014, 2:25 pm 
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Joined: July 10th, 2013, 10:20 pm
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Hello,
I am planning on soloing the Anderson river next summer. While looking into canoes for the trip I had previously decided on the 17' 6" Wenonah encounter. I got the boat and have been paddling it around this summer. As it turns out the boat has very poor maneuverability. It holds great weight and stability is fine under load. However considering the Anderson trip is more than half river I am looking for a boat that can turn better. Any suggestions on a good canoe for a 2 month solo trip? Needs to be able to hold me (150lb) and approx another 150 to 200 lb of gear.

Thanks


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PostPosted: July 15th, 2014, 3:22 pm 
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Joined: August 27th, 2002, 7:00 pm
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Location: Geraldton, Ontario Can
Swift Raven


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PostPosted: July 15th, 2014, 6:03 pm 
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Joined: December 21st, 2007, 2:45 am
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Location: Connecticut, USA
Hemlock SRT, which stands for solo river tripper. It was designed by American whitewater racing champion Harold Deal for solo tripping on Canadian river-lake routes.

http://www.hemlockcanoe.com/srt.html


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PostPosted: July 15th, 2014, 7:43 pm 
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Another vote for Raven. It comes from Swift in Royalex. The SRT is a fine river boat; its a composite. Dave Curtis uses fiberglass for the exterior fabric under the gel coat, which is the correct layup for a river boat.


You will notice performance specs in the Raven top at 340 but that is conservative to me. I have had more than that in the boat with nothing breaking over the bow.


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PostPosted: July 15th, 2014, 7:51 pm 
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Not sure where you are located but this MR Freedom Solo would be a good candidate

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.htm ... ail_alerts


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PostPosted: July 19th, 2014, 5:29 pm 
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Location: Wellington ON
Evergreen Sunburst ... if you can find one.

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PostPosted: July 21st, 2014, 8:26 am 
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Location: Denver, CO
I could do a two month trip in my Wen Rendezvous, though I'd pack a little lighter maybe. I'm about 150 also, and with another 150 to 200 lbs in the boat, I'd be cautious running anything above CII (and maybe portage some of those).

Rendezvous is a quick boat - "more than half river" = what 40% or so lakes ? portages ? - you can order the boat in kevlar (not stocked normally) and have a hull that weighs maybe 40lbs with gelcoat - worth considering if you have a lot of portaging to do.

I'd guess any of the solo river trippers will feel sluggish with your full load.

think this one rounds out the list of solos -

I have a Pakcanoe 150 that I can set up for solo or tandem - that boat would carry your load easier than the rendezvous - a bit more volume, but slower.


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PostPosted: July 21st, 2014, 8:56 am 
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The Wenonah Rendezvous, Hemlock SRT, Swift Raven, are all certainly worthy of consideration. Other choices include some older Royalex whitewater OC-1s if you should locate one, such as the Whitesell Piranha, Dagger Caper, Blue Hole Sunburst or Sunburst II, or the Dagger/Mad River Caption.

You might also consider a 15 foot Prospector design such as those made by Nova Craft, Wenonah, or Esquif. The Esquif Prospecteur is closer to 16' but with 4 1/2 inches of rocker on both ends, it turns very well (perhaps too well).

You might even consider a boat in the 16 foot range if you have a ton of bulky gear. This would allow at least shorter flotation bags or blocks in the stems which is not a bad idea. Choices would include the old Blue Hole/Evergreeen Starburst or the new Nova Craft Moisie, the composite Millbrook AC/DC, the old Dagger Dimension, a Nova Craft/Bell/Wenonah Prospector 16, or perhaps an Esquif Mistral.


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PostPosted: July 21st, 2014, 12:47 pm 
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Location: Atlanta
I find my MR Guide Solo just a bit packed and loaded for multi day camping. But my MR Synergy, similar to the Dagger Caption, carries plenty and retains a high degree of whitewater maneuverability.

Synergies are no longer made, but there are a few other ww tandems that are narrow enough and agile enough for solo tripping.


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PostPosted: July 29th, 2014, 5:50 pm 
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Joined: June 30th, 2014, 2:03 pm
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Bell Starfire - hard to find, but my favorite option - either blackgold or whitegold.
Pakboat 15 - way better if you plan on flying.
Either one has enough capacity for me at 200lb and 2 months of gear.

Bill Ostrom has a Bell Nexus as a solo ww tripper; it has got a good amount of rocker, paddling the flats wouldn't be as enjoyable.


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PostPosted: July 29th, 2014, 6:03 pm 
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p.s. I forgot to say that Colden Canoe is making the Starfire.


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PostPosted: August 7th, 2014, 7:16 pm 
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What are the portages like? What is the difficulty of whitewater you want to run? Do you like symmetrically or asymmetrically rockered canoes?

I have solo tripped (some group and some alone) in several 16 ft prospectors, Swift Raven, Osprey, Shearwater, Dumoine, Hemlock SRT, Colden Dragonfly but never for more than 10 days. I often carry group gear but that wouldn't account for the weight difference of extra food on a 60 day trip - depending on what you are doing for food. I have enjoyed all the canoes but they all have their own characteristics. For load carrying, the Dumoine, prospectors, Raven, SRT, Shearwater would be about in that order. I am surprised at the load capacity of the Dragonfly and really like they way it performs. The Colden Starfire would look to be a good choice depending on your preferences - Colden could probably put in an extra layer of cloth.

No one has mentioned the Nova Craft Super Nova. A friend has one in Royalex and seems to do well with it. I don't like the seat placement so far back from mid-ship for whitewater but perhaps it results in better control in side and stern-end winds - that is the only reason I can think of for that placement. It is somewhat like paddling a small prospector stern first. It does come in lighter materials but I have never seen one in anything but RX.


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PostPosted: August 7th, 2014, 9:54 pm 
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I didn't know Paul had turned out Colden DragonFly #2.. Mine has 38 layers of fabric including partials. Its a pretty tough composite layup for rocky rivers.


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PostPosted: August 15th, 2014, 5:02 pm 
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Esquif Pocket Canyon would be my choice. Have seen the MR Guide and Raven do what your asking too.

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PostPosted: August 17th, 2014, 12:24 am 
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Wish I were where I could get your close Encounter of the Third Kind.


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