I am looking for opinions. How do most of you feel about a Bob Special for solo wilderness tripping? I like more stable boats for fishing. I have paddled a prism and thought it was a rocket, but am not crazy about spending long hours in it. Is the Bob good in wind, waves? Although it is rockered a good bit, does it track well? Is it a slow boat. I am looking at a wood canvas boat with the original Chestnut hull design. It is a bit heavy, but I think it could be a good boat. I look forward to all replies.
Regards,
Bob.
I owned a Bob Special
It was a Nova Craft and royalex (I sold it through this web site classified ads) I bought it primarily to fish out of and have since bought a larger tandem and two lighter dedicated solos.
I can only compare the Bob Special to my existing solos - a Wenonah Vagabond (Royalex) and a Bell Magic (kevlite).
Here are my impressions.
The Bob Special turned better than either of my solos. It was more effected by wind and did not track as well. It was more stable then either the Bell or the Wenonah but the Wenonah is almost as stable. About as fast as the Wenonah but no where near as fast as the Bell. Great load capacity for the Bob Special. Mine weighed 58 pounds. My opinion, it would make a fair solo tripper and still give you tandem capacity for day trips. It should work well in moving water. My reservation would be in portaging due to the weight and in windy conditions I would be concerned about how much widn would effect the tracking. The Bob Special handles waves very well.
Bobs special canoe builder…
http://www.carryingplacecanoeworks.on.ca/html/canvas.html
They build a Bobs Special, I called about have a Jack’s Special (Chestnut Chum) built, 1 year waiting list…so I bought the plans and will build my first wood canvas canoe from scratch this winter/spring.
But, they where real nice on the phone, and they know Chestnuts and canoe tripping.
Give them a call, maybe they can answer your questions.