Tandem canoe that can paddle solo

tandem and solo

– Last Updated: Jul-25-13 2:31 PM EST –

Make sure the tandem hull is symmetrical so that you can turn it around and paddle from the bow seat when you are going solo. I have paddled all of my tandem boats solo, often on river trips loaded with gear up to 18 1/2 feet. It is a myth that one needs a solo boat for solo trips. Buy a used canoe so you can change your mind later and trade it for a different one.

Anyone with decent balance can stand in a canoe, especially with some weight in it. Provided you are in calm conditions. It is not necessary for fishing however.

Your size??
First of all, I have both soin fished and fly fished from all types of boats: SOT kayak & SIK, pontoons, solo canoe (mohawk odyssey 14), and various tandem canoes. I fish rivers 90% and do at keast 2 overnight float fishing trips. If you fly fish or spend many hours in the boat, being able to stand is NICE! it lets you cast much easier and further, lets you sight fish and find good structure better, and it lets you stretch out your legs better. You wont want to stand in anything narrower than 34". Hull design, of course, is a big factor. But even a wide canoe with a rounded hull like my nova prospector has enough initial stability to stand and fish. Sounds line an OT penobscot fits your needs. It will feel a bit unstable for standing and fishing but nit bad at all. I have ine that I widened by an inch and moced the seats closer to the center, making it more stable, maneuverable, and better solo.

Your size, and even strength, is a big consideration. If you’re built like an offensive tackle, a big tandem canoe will suit you perfectly as a solo. I know a guy who’s 6’4" and over 300 lbs. and he paddles his OT Tripper (17’2" long 37" wide 80 lbs) solo like its a 14’ solo canoe. If you are average build, you will want a smaller boat.

Get something good for what you will use it for 90% of the time. Sounds like you will mostly be fishing solo on lakes but want the option to bring a partner, and you will do limited river tripping. AN OT PENOBSCOT IS PERFECT FOR THIS.

Fly fishing, too
I was using an Old Town Loon 138 (discontinued) as a solo boat for fly fishing. It is heavy, about 60# and is on a rack in the back yard right now. I recently purchased an Old Town Pack Angler, a 12’, 33# canoe that is ideal for the kind of small water fishing that I like to do. Since I can quietly float to the fish I don’t worry about long casts. Its just not an issue. I can cast from sitting using an 8’- 4wt rod and get anywhere the fish are. I can easily carry and load the boat and haul it on a little Suzuki SX4. The car is about the same size as a Mini-Cooper. I’m struck with how sweet a package the whole thing is for quick trips to local fish ponds or larger reservoirs. The angler model has a low seat that makes it a bit more stable. I’ve never felt tippy in it. It is easy to navigate with either double blade or a beaver tail. I can make it go straight with either. As you can tell, I’m quite sold on the small solo canoe.

Casting While Sitting
Al_A makes a valid point about casting while seated. I’m forever amazed by the popularity of the notion that one must be standing in the boat to fly cast, or even to cast by other methods. In the generations before mine, casting while standing in the boat was practically unheard of (hardly anybody owned boats big enough to make it practical), yet fly casting was more popular then than it is now. And yes, a person seated in a canoe, and especially when kneeling in a canoe, is higher off the water than the average wading fisherman is. Good logic at work there! In fact, it’s common to see fly fishermen wading the shorelines of our local lakes, in water deep enough to be right up to the tops of their chest waders (shouldn’t they be taking a stepladder out there so they can cast properly?).



I don’t fly fish, but I do fish with spinning and baitcasting equipment from a canoe while kneeling, and all sorts of stealthy and precise boat movements are possible simply by momentarily making adjustments while holding the paddle in one hand. And while kneeling (or sitting), it only takes a second to switch from regular two-handed paddling to casting, or visa-versa. Add the transition from sitting/kneeling to standing into that same equation and some “right-now” casting opportunities would be lost. Further, the best fisherman I ever knew swore that on small, quiet waters, the waves created by boat movements put near-surface fish on high alert. He believed in LONG casts, placed before the waves from boat movement had traveled far (he also believed in minimizing how much one rocked the boat, to minimize the waves thus created). One could hardly argue with the results he got by always putting that first cast well beyond the area of wave disturbance. Switching from sitting to standing will make a lot more waves than simply remaining low, and will delay your first cast until the waves have traveled pretty far.

Wenonah’s prospectors

– Last Updated: Jul-25-13 9:40 AM EST –

I have paddled both the 16 ft and 15 foot extensively. They're both wider boats which adds to capacity (family trips) and stability (standing). I paddle them heeled over, especially the 15 which is wider than the 16, BUT THE 16 FT WOULD BE A GOOD BOAT FOR YOU TO TRY. It handles gracefully paddled solo from the center or from the bow seat facing the stern, are surprisingly fast yet maneuverable, just great boats. Symmetrical with some rocker is a great design. Love both these boats. Please let us know what you get.

Second that
Penobscot 16

I should add…
within the OP’s budget buying a Penobscot allows purchase of some nice paddles which are often overlooked.

Depends: paddling or platforming
Whether you “need” a dedicated and probably skinny solo canoe for solo flatwater paddling depends, in my mind, on your objectives and goals as a solo canoeist.



If you paddle solo mainly because you enjoy the physical and psychological aesthetics of the act of paddling – paddling for the sake of paddling – then I think you would appreciate the higher performance characteristics of a dedicated solo canoe. This could be a high speed (racing) type of solo canoe or a highly maneuverable (freestyle) type of solo canoe.



On the other hand, for many solo canoeists the canoe is primarily a platform within which to engage in some pleasant activity or hobby other than the act of paddling itself, such as fishing, poling, photography, gear hauling or love trysts. For these kinds of platform activities a tandem canoe paddled solo is not only sufficient but probably superior, and there is no reason to get a dedicated solo canoe in addition to a small tandem.



There are many smaller tandems that are decent solo canoes, and some have been mentioned here. The Pal was Bill Mason’s flatwater favorite in his films and is still very popular, especially in Canada. I am paddling a Penobscot both solo and tandem here in Alaska this month, and find it to be quite acceptable for both purposes. If I had the money, I would get a Stewart River Ami.

I feel eminently qualified…
…to answer the OP, having been through all of this in the last several years.



First - forget the Prospector, in your case. Since you state that you will be on lakes and slow rivers, the easy turning and deep hull of the Prospector-style canoes will not be needed - and will cause you trouble in the wind. A Prospector on a breezy lake with a solo paddler is enough of a handful that you won’t have time to fish, and you will question the choice of canoe even for just paddling. I have one, and like it a lot where it is suitable - but not for this.



I know from experience that the Penobscot and the Malecite can serve you well on lakes and slow rivers, solo or tandem - but neither are really suitable for three-up. Both are not difficult to stand and fish in, but not as easy as - ironically - the Prospectors…or even the 14’ Wenonah Fisherman (which is slow as a tandem, and extra-wide as a solo).



Oh - I just double-checked, and I see you said “wife OR daughter” not “AND daughter”. So the Penobscot and Malecite may work well for you as “only canoe” - although certainly not the ideal solo boat. While I have both of those to compare, I have never paddled a Solo Plus or a Northstar - but the Northstar will be similar to the Malecite (but better, I think). The Solo Plus is appropriately named - it isn’t really a good tandem for average or larger adults, in my unproven opinion. IMO, the better Wenonah for your application would be the Escapade - which is in the class of the Northstar or Malecite.



Anyway - I agree with the folks advising two canoes. Some kind of cruising tandem and a dedicated cruising solo. It really is much easier to get around solo in a solo canoe (unless you add poling to your repertoire), and I have yet to see any medium-size (16’-ish) recreational tandem that is not easy to stand in with practice. If you are not confident in your ability to do so, I would suggest something a bit less sporty than those I named above, with slightly wider and flatter bottoms.



BTW - I agree that standing is not necessary (I fish with fly gear and spinning gear), but sometimes it is useful. Not a deal-breaker either way for me, but I find myself more and more preferring to kneel in the solo canoe (a Dagger Sojourn) while fishing on flat water.

Actually…
For a lot of different kinds of fishing, the solo IS considerably better. The reason is that if you’re fishing while moving instead of anchoring in one spot and fishing, such as bass fishing along a bank, there is a big advantage to the responsiveness of solo canoes compared to tandem canoes. By responsiveness, I mean I can pick up the paddle with one hand without putting my fishing rod down and make one or two one-handed paddle strokes to turn the canoe, straighten it, move it sideways, or move it forward a few feet. With a tandem it may take more than one or two strokes and it may take more strength in each stroke. I’ve paddled my Penobscot 16s solo while fishing a number of times, and while it’s certainly doable, it’s a whole lot easier and more efficient to fish solo from my Wenonah Vagabond. I certainly think I fish much better in the Vagabond.

Love trysts canoe
The dedicated solo (racing type) is a much more efficient vehicle for keeping trysts appointments. On the other hand, if the secret meeting place were the canoe itself, I would opt for the wide tandem.