Hello all. First post so hang with me. I’m a fairly experienced paddler from the Ozarks. I currently have a 10’ perception kayak and a 17’ Osagian aluminum canoe. Between the two I have about a thousand river miles in. My issue is a good portion of my paddling is done with a group of friends on overnight trips around 20-25 miles. I enjoy my kayak but the storage is lacking and I can’t pack very much gear (tent, sleeping bag, cooler, etc). My canoe is awesome but it’s a hog to solo, with my gear and everyone else’s gear that has kayak storage issues like I do. So I’d like to get a boat to fill that gap. I am having trouble deciding between a 12-13’ kayak with upgraded storage, or a dedicated solo canoe similar to the Mohawk 12-13’. I am capable in both a kayak and canoe, but just seeking advice from anyone who has had the same issue I do.
Most of my paddling is done on back country Ozarks rivers like the Buffalo and the Current. Class 2 is the most I encounter regularly. Thanks in advance.
If you can find a Mohawk Solo 14’ then go for it. I have friends that paddle them on multi day trips including mild whitewater. The picture below is from a week long trip on Canada’s White River:
A Probe would not be my first choice for flatwater. They’ve got a lot of rocker and are designed for quick turns rather than going straight. I paddled a Viper for a few years in pretty serious whitewater, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend that one for what it sounds like you’re looking for. One of our local whitewater run ends with a couple miles of flatwater to get the takeout, and those miles even with the current weren’t any fun. The Solo 14 would be a good choice, or even an Odyssey 14 if you want to stick with Mohawk (although neither are that easy to find these days).
A 14.5 ft Dagger Stratos carries lots of gear for a kayak and is fun paddling from Ponca downstream. And, should you ever get to a bigger lake or coastal area, it is good for open water and coastal kayaking too.
I like to bring my dog, a cooler a Coleman stove. I have done some overnight trips in big sea kayaks but do not like them compared to a canoe.
I have paddled tandem canoes solo for years. Work on your strokes… Trim out the boat so it is pretty neutral. I carry a regular canoe paddle and a kayak paddle. Going solo in a tandem boats gives you a lot of flotation and you can ride higher in the water. I like a canoe with rocker and no keel for rivers. Your al canoe has both of those problems.
Do those longer touring sea kayaks do well on the smaller, windy rivers with occasional tricky sections? I has always been told they don’t but have never seen anyone with them.
There is rarely the kind of wind on smaller winding rivers that a proper sea kayak has to handle in open water. There is just not a lot of fetch.
I am not sure what you mean by tricky - tight or some current? Anything that tracks strongly if it is a short section, like a sea kayak, will be more unwieldy to get thru those spots.
We have some smaller stuff around here for which I keep a couple of older plastic boats around. Not the least of which is the occasional need to haul it over a berm or around a beaver dam. Sometimes because of plain old low water, if on one of them off the Hudson below Troy because low tide can make the diff between paddling over and hauling over something. It is about 4 ft up to the federal lock in Troy.
IMO the easiest way to explore the little stuff is an older beater of a plastic rec boat or similar cheap. If you have to cross a distance to get to that little stream, you might want something longer. But if you are dropping in close by it is easiest to have an abusable piece of tupperware that you don’t need to care about.
I have done the Buffalo several times. I always run into high water at some point on the trip. This means of course getting shoved into rootwads A sea kayak is not your friend if and when you run into those and try to avoid them
That is probably why you have not seen them.
The Current is a lovely river …done 100 miles on it once and about a dozen day paddles on it when at Ozark Rendezvous ( which was sadly canceled this year)
I always disliked the OT Next . Its kind of short but I thought if there ever was a river system for it that would be in the Ozarks. The negative is it is kind of short. But that depends on what you want to bring… I have seen all manner of gear some bring the whole house and other minimalist.
The 119 is even shorter… so gear storage even more limited
the Mohawk Solo 14 is a great boat if you can find one. The 13 I used one trip was short… I did not carry my share of gear( there was my husbands bigger boat to dump gear in)
The tricky sections I’m referring to are similar to what kayamedic mentioned. Lots of sharp bends, 90+ degree turns with roof wads, lay downs, etc. I need something agile enough to be able to make those quick adjustments. From what I’ve read the touring kayaks aren’t that good in that area. However I also encounter a lot of long, slow pools on the same rivers so I need something that can track decently and put out decent speed.
I’m not a “glamper” by any means but I do like to bring along some luxury items…40q. Cooler, Coleman stove, sleeping bag, etc.
It seems to me that even in a small canoe I could carry as much if not more gear comfortably than in a touring yak.
I have an old pelican that I use to explore smaller creeks and what not. But it’s useless for camping.
I know I’m probably asking for the “unicorn” of boats and I know one boat won’t be the best of everything. Just looking for something that can get me through whatever I’ll encounter on the rivers I float
There is nothing out there that is designed to both go really fast and turn really tight in the way of a boat. A skilled enough paddler can make that happen in a variety of boats.
I had forgotten earlier about your primary purpose being to camp. A touring kayak can haul more gear than you understand, but that is not the most important point here. What mostly matters IMO is that you need a boat that is better attuned to small river camping than long distance, open water touring.
Kayamedic suggested a couple of canoes, probably the best idea. A pack canoe that can be paddled with a double blade will probably give you more speed with a moderate investment in learning how to paddle well than a solo canoe intended to be single bladed. They do tend to be smaller, but I suspect if you investigate also spending a few bucks on lighter weight camping gear you will find you can make it work.
I don’t know if something like this is even made anymore, but I use an old 14 foot Aquatera Spectrum kayak as my river beater. The hull is shaped like a canoe and it has no bulkheads so it could hold a lot of gear in dry bags. I also keep my beater paddle stored inside the bow where I can reach it. It does have flotation bags - you can see one lying in the stern where the light shines through.
You already paddle both a kayak and canoe in conditions you want - I’d start with the simple question of which type of boat you prefer to paddle for this, and work from there.
Not one that knows much about canoes, so if you want to go that way, I will leave suggestions on that to others if that be the direction you want.
On kayaks, you likely will need to consider some changes to your packing list.Kayaks have a fair amount of space for lots of smaller items, but larger items(like a cooler) generally don’t fit.
The suggestion of a Dagger Stratos is a good one. Good volume boat, so can pack a lot for a 14.5’ kayak.
I’ll chime in here. I have done a fair amount of the paddling that you describe. Most of the time I am solo in a small tandem canoe. I have tried various ones over the years and have been happy with most of them. At just over 6 feet tall I am able to reach across them when need be. The larger canoe leaves me with more than enough room for whatever I might want to bring. I always install a kneeling thwart when a new boat comes into our house and almost always solo from that thwart. My current favorite is a 15’ Dagger Reflection. My all time favorite was a Colden Starfire.
