Well, I am looking into a solo tripping boat. Any plans out there or reviews of good boats to conscider? I would be interested in an Osprey or maybe even a “Solo Portage” from Laughing Loon. I look forward to any info.
Bob.
thats a good question
for the WCHA guys www.wcha.org
Al Bratton makes woodstrip boats some long enough for tripping.
With wooden boats you do have to look for smaller volume builders as well as the larger ones like CLC.
Loon Works makes a nice Mistral and a Pal. Bring bankbook, they are worth it.
Wooden Boat
I have built the Solo Portage from Laughing Loon and Love it. It is big enough to trip in, handles really well in wind. Stable, glides well. Mine weighs 31 pounds stripped. I set mine up to paddle with single paddle but I sit in the bottom and double paddle most of the time. Also built a sail rig for it. I can keep up with a friend of mine in a 17 foot kayak using single paddle. Like this boat so much I also have built The Wee Two. (finishing it as we speak). Have had the Solo Portage in 1-1-1/2 foot waves and it turns water real good.
Osprey and Shearwater
Hi Bob, I purchased plans for the Shearwater and the Osprey from GreenVal.com. RHaslam on the myccr.com board has built the Osprey and the Winisk, both beautiful boats. He could give you some info. I have rough sawn White Cedar boards for sale if you want to make your own strips.
Andy
more
There are some wonderful solo canoe plans out there.
Red River Canoe and Paddle have plans available for the old Chestnut Fox. This really is a dedicated solo Prospector-style! 14’X30". The plans that I got are for a wood/canvas mold, but can easily be modified for wood strip molds. Easy to stretch to 15’, too.
http://www.redrivercanoe.ca/
Two nice designs from The Carrying Place. The Soulmate and Halfmoon.
http://www.carryingplacecanoeworks.on.ca/pdfdocs/halfmoon.pdf
http://www.carryingplacecanoeworks.on.ca/pdfdocs/soulmate.pdf
And last, but not least, a very wonderful design from another Canadian, Steve Killing.
http://www.bearmountainboats.com/15-3FreedomSolo.htm
A dedicated solo with enough rocker to be comfortable on moving water. Like the Osprey, this is a very modern design with deferential rocker and pinched in at the gunnel for easy solo paddling. This is a very new design and I haven’t heard from anyone who built this yet. Be the first!
nick schade
guillemot kayaks.
his designs are beautiful and very very functional…and he has one hanging in MOMA…so, yeah, a bit of a craftsman!
you can buy plans, attend a class or have him build one to your specs.
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/
Pygmy kayaks
The Pygmy Coho and Arctic Tern models are excellent kayaks. The Coho has more storage space. Both are beautiful boats, too.
Merlin / 38 special
A couple of solo’s from Northwest canoe shoppe. I built and still have the Merlin which was designed by Bruce Kunz. Good boat, I take it out on lake Norman wiht no qualms. Handles waves well and tracks well. I fell very comfortable in it. It is fairly fast but definitely not competition to a J-boat. I will problobly build another one since I like this one so well.
Wooden Boat
Thanks for the info guys.
Bob.