At your size…
…a Penobscot is a good compromise, IMO. My Penobscot (now my son’s) has a center solo seat, and I - at 5’11" & 160lbs - can solo it pretty well, so long as I don’t have to make tight turns. If you have muscle in proportion to your size and develop reasonably good technique, I’m guessing it shouldn’t be a problem for you.
The Penobscot is a very versatile boat. Being symmetrical, you can paddle it backwards from the bow seat with just a little ballast forward of you with good results. It performs well with “Canadian style” technique - healed to one side and kneeling in the chine just aft of center. Or you can use a permanent seat mounted just aft (~8") of center - and easy mod if it doesn’t come that way. Not a boat for rivers requiring quick turning maneuvers, but good on lakes and easy rivers up to class 2. At ~62lbs, it isn’t overly heavy. You can hardly go wrong with one - and it’s a popular model that would be easy to re-sell if you don’t like it.
Beware
if looking for a Penobscot that they come in both Royalex and three layer poly construction nowadays. The Penobscot that most have come to admire over the years is the Royalex one. It is a good 15 pounds lighter (listed as 58 lbs for a 16 footer) than the poly boat.
Peter
OT Camper
Old Town also makes a 15 and 16ft Camper in Royalex. I use the 16 and paddle from the front seat solo to fish out of. The 15 looks like a great solo boat but they are harder to find used. I can stand up and fly fish in the 16.
For what it’s worth…
though you’ve gotten a lot of good advice, I’ll add my two cents worth…
I’ve now owned three Penobscot 16s (just got a terrific deal on a slightly damaged in shipment new one…$745). I’ve soloed them and also a Penobscot 17 many times. I also have owned, or now own, an Old Town Pack, a Wenonah Sandpiper, several old Oscoda Codas, and my present favorite solo, the Wenonah Vagabond. The Penobscots solo well, better than most tandem canoes, but not as good as any of my solos, and none of them are really considered high performance boats. Paddling a Penobscot solo is…an okay experience, while paddling any decent solo is FUN. I’ll give up versatility for the fun factor.
I agree with whoever above said that if the solo fits YOU, and thus gives you the optimum experience paddling solo, it won’t really work all that well for even just having your daughter in it. While a tandem like the Penobscot 16 will work for everything you want, but will just not be as pleasant a solo experience. It’s a tough choice, but I’d say your choices boil down to the Penobscot, the Wenonah Solo Plus, or getting a decent solo and looking for a cheap used tandem. Personally, I’d go for the third option, but that’s because I love solo paddling so much.
you can solo the Camper…
…but it isn’t even close to the performance of the Penobscot. Much harder to make it go straight. More vulnerable to wind. Lack of secondary stability precludes Canadian style. Much less glide.
Wenonah Solo Plus
never paddled one but Wenonah makes good boats.
http://www.wenonah.com/products/template/product_detail.php?IID=39
Penobscot question
Dave, I have a 16 ft Penobscot and am planning on adding a center seat for my daughter on family trips and for me to use solo as well. My local shop recommended flipping the yoke to face the aft and adding hardware to make it removable (for when soloing and facing the aft end of the boat) and adding the center seat just fore of the yoke. 2 questions: Do you think this is the best way to accomplish what I want to do and when you say position the seat 8 inches from center does that mean the center of the seat should be 8 inches from center or the edge of the seat should be 8 inches from center?
Thanks
And by Dave I meant Steve…