I have paddled the Penobscot 164, royalex for 40 yrs, love it’s all around behavior. It just seems to have gotten too heavy 
. Have an opportunity locally to acquire a Bell Morningstar 16 in Black n Gold, good condition, solo and portage hardware. A little cold to test paddle, but my research leads me to believe it would be similar the the Penobscot. Not the best at everything (occasional solo, tandem, maybe w a dog and/or grandkids) but pretty respectable handling at around 41 pounds. Thoughts?
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I believe you have a Penobscot 16 not a 164. The 16 is Royalex, the 164 is poly. I have a Penobscot 17, but it is quite a bit different than the 16.
I dont have experience with a Morningstar, but from the specs, it would be a versatile canoe. It is a narrow tandem so it should work well as a solo. The rocker will make it nimble and the weight will make you use it more often.
It sounds like it would meet your needs. If you buy it, post some pictures. Let us know what you think when you paddle it. We need more canoe content on here.
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