Have you ever tried a WW boat(OC-1)?
If you’d like to have a fun time on moving water, and the releases aren’t high-level torrents, you owe yourself an experience and try either of these WW-boats(OC-1s)…Esquif’s Raven and/or Nitro. Both very stable boats…and fun for front surfing or playing around with eddies. Both stable boats yet will offer lots of mobility in any degree of current…and are both non-composite so you won’t have to worry at all about gravelly/rocky bottomed brooks/streams/rivers.
The Yellowstone Solo sounds like a graet middle-of-the-road boat, a very versatile…take anywhere boat.
$.01
Souris River
I’ve paddled the SR Tranquility as well as the Jensen 16. Fully agree that the Tranquility is a slug…maybe it shines with 300 pounds or more…I also tried it unloaded. I hated that boat - for my use. I also didn’t like the Wilderness 18 because of average performance…although it did have some virtues like good value, light weight for the volume, lots of volume and stability, nice construction quality (although I’ve never personally abused one to see just how tough they are) - perhaps brand strengths for SR. Not sure why SR doesn’t offer the Jensen Solo any more but it sure isn’t for lack of performance. I also like the fact that on SR boats one can see through them and see the waterline on the boat. Seems like SR makes highly practical “canadian” type boats. I think they used to offer a Jensen-style tandem too.
This is a hijack
but I got the Wilderness 18 for transport via VIA Rail. 18 feet is a canoe. For one trip the fare was 15 dollars. 18.5 feet is freight. If I had taken my Wenonah Odyssey the fare would have been $352.
No I didn’t forget the decimal point.
Glad to see that I now have a fourth on agreement about the Tranquility Solo…have not yet met anyone who liked it.
One friend who actually bought it thought it would be better than the Merlin II… We had a race…impromptu. Results as expected. He sold the SR a month later.
WPA Solo fest…
I did attend and I did paddle the Kestrel. Only for a short time. It was a neat boat but it did not make a lasting impression because I can’t remember too much about it other than it was very good to accelerate and to paddle and felt very efficient adn maneuverable.
I paddled a lot of boats there. Paddled the Peregrine too. I did not care for it. Felt stiff tracking but without a big advantage in speed over the Merlin. I preferred the Merlin.
Also paddled several others there. I still found none more maneuverable than the freedom solo and only one more so than the Osprey and that was a curtis boat…think it was the dragonfly. Not sure. Super cool boat though
I think I have found a Merlin…thanks to this post…and I am going to pick up my Bell wildfire too.
Think I will be happy with this combo…but also considering a Wenonah Voyager I found used nearby. definitely a sit and switch boat.
Will see…