What are your current solo canoes and how do you like them?

My neighbor has a row of sumac trees that are about forty feet tall and fairly straight. I don't know how good they are structurally, but they'd be a sustainable supply for sure. Invasive buggers.

Holy thread drift Batman!

The Sumacs we're interested in are the Buckhorn, Smooth & Fragrant Sumacs all of which produce seed heads of red, fuzzy berries that can be brewed into a tea & chilled to make a very pleasant pink lemonade facsimile.

Poison Sumac is more shrub-like and produces white berries. They're very easy to tell apart once you know what you're looking at. Incidentally, I know a local Forester who has a variety of woods including a sample of Poison Ivy. (I'm not nearly crazy enough to attempt a boat from that)

A "massive Sumac" is almost certainly Tree of Heaven, aka Chinese Sumac. They're very invasive and not particularly interesting as wood but I may use one to build a canoe someday just to rid the world of one and see if I can render it's existence worthwhile.

Anyway... I have a Goldenglass Sawyer Summersong, a Bear Mountain Freedom Solo stripper (16' 3" version) built from Aspen & Cherry, A John Winters designed Raven stripper in Eastern Larch (aka Tamarac) & Sassafras and a Northwest Canoe Merlin stripper in White Pine & Cherry that I'm hoping to actually finish before the snow flies.

I was waiting to post in this thread until I'd paddled each enough to relate my impressions of them but I screwed up and derailed the whole stinkin' thread a bit (oops... As you were...)

Gamma1214 said:

Sumac

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Sumac, a famously native tree of Iran, has been infesting Gamma's boat building brain for more than six years now:


Time to queue back some sumac and glue/tack.

Gamma1214 said:

Holy thread drift Batman!

The Sumacs we're interested in are the Buckhorn, Smooth & Fragrant Sumacs all of which produce seed heads of red, fuzzy berries that can be brewed into a tea & chilled to make a very pleasant pink lemonade facsimile.

Poison Sumac is more shrub-like and produces white berries. They're very easy to tell apart once you know what you're looking at. Incidentally, I know a local Forester who has a variety of woods including a sample of Poison Ivy. (I'm not nearly crazy enough to attempt a boat from that)

A "massive Sumac" is almost certainly Tree of Heaven, aka Chinese Sumac. They're very invasive and not particularly interesting as wood but I may use one to build a canoe someday just to rid the world of one and see if I can render it's existence worthwhile.

Anyway... I have a Goldenglass Sawyer Summersong, a Bear Mountain Freedom Solo stripper (16' 3" version) built from Aspen & Cherry, A John Winters designed Raven stripper in Eastern Larch (aka Tamarac) & Sassafras and a Northwest Canoe Merlin stripper in White Pine & Cherry that I'm hoping to actually finish before the snow flies.

I was waiting to post in this thread until I'd paddled each enough to relate my impressions of them but I screwed up and derailed the whole stinkin' thread a bit (oops... As you were...)

Click to expand...

Had to look up tree of heaven. Yeah, that's what the neighbors have. Strange name for that evil Thing. But now I know how to manage them...


I can get some big logs of that for anyone who wants to mill them into strips.

I have staghorn sumac on my place. And yes, the flowers make a good tea, but my honeybees like them so much I leave them for the bees. Not getting any useable lumber from them.

Gamma1214 said:

Holy thread drift Batman!

Click to expand...

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Things change and so do our canoes. Two years later and we sold one* and added two, at opposite ends of the spectrum, so we're at four solo canoes now. It's a fairly wide range (though no true whitewater canoe) so I don't expect any changes until I have to sell them off because I just can't paddle anymore.

Builder & Model - use; length; gunnel/max width; bow/stern rocker

GRB Newman Classic - fast cruising & lake tripping; 15' 8"; 22"/28"; no rocker
- This sleek canoe really likes to fly along. I just can't resist going fast in this boat.

Hemlock Kestrel - lake tripping with rocker; 14' 9"; 25.5"/27.5"; 1.75"/1.25"
- Versatile canoe; if I had to limit myself to one boat, this would be the one.

Northstar Firebird – sport & river-oriented tripping; 13' 6"; 26"/29"; 2.5"/2.5"
- I love paddling this lively canoe. It just seems to fit me to a T.

Swift Prospector 13 – sport & light tripping; 13' 0"; 26"/30"; 1.0"/1.0"
- Mainly used by my spouse, it's a fun little boat on narrow, twisty streams.

* We sold our fiberglass Curtis Lady Bug, which wasn't an easy decision because we both really enjoyed paddling that lovely yellow canoe and it had a provenance that we cherished. But time marches on and my spouse needed something lighter for her to handle off the water.

My only two currently: Northstar Northwind Solo 15’6” UL Kevlar, and a Swift Prospector 14’ “Expedition” Kevlar.

HOWEVER! I’ve got my eye on an Esquif Prospecteur 15 or 16 in T-Formex for remote river tripping. I’m leaning toward the shorter boat for solo maneuverability and weight, but juggling the capacity needs. I want to fit 2 food pack/barrels as well as my dog and camp gear.

I have an Old Town Discovery 119 and a Wenonah Wilderness Ultralight. The Old Town is dang near indestructable, but the stability sucks. I haven’t taken the Wenonah out yet.

Between my wife and I we have seven dedicated solos. All are set up for kneeling and straight stick, single blade paddling.
2 June Bugs. One carbon fiber and Kevlar, built by Savage River, and one woodstrip, the original or prototype.
1 Illusion, carbon fiber and Kevlar, built by Savage River. The original woodstrip now resides with a good friend.
1 Inspire 14.5, Kevlar, built by Slipstream. It has tandem seats in addition to the center solo seat but it is rarely paddled tandem.
1 Flashfire, carbon fiber, built by Bell.
1 Mayfly, Kevlar, built by Dave Curtis.
1 Solitaire, cedar sheathed with Ceconite (Dacron), built by Tom Mackenzie (Loonworks).

The June bugs are fun, very lively boats that we paddle for freestyle and day tripping. Having minimal, wetted surface area, they are also quite fast. These days, we paddle the Savage River version exclusively. The woodstrip has been refinished, bagged and is awaiting the day that my daughter will take possession of it.
The Illusion is my personal, go to boat. I paddle it 90% of the time. It's very playful, even with a small amount of heel though it tracks well when kept on an even keel. It's big enough for me to move around in, and carry enough gear for a modest trip. It's my freestyle boat and my day tripper. If I only had one boat, the Illusion would be it.
The Inspire 14,5 is a fine daytripper. It's light, nimble, has beautiful lines and a pleasure to paddle.
The Fashfire is another all around fun canoe. Great for freestyle, and day trips. Certainly capable of overnights if one packs lightly.
The Mayfly is a great day tripper and tracks easily due to a lightly skegged stern.
The Solitaire is my wife's go to freestyle canoe. It's a beautiful boat that Tom Mackenzie built for her.

adkjoe said:

#1: Hemlock Eaglet in lite-tech layup 38#
#2: Northstar Northwind Solo in starlite layup wood trim 29#
#3: Placid Boatworks Shadow in ultralight 23#
#4: Hornbeck New Tricks 14 23#
#5: Swift Dragonfly with metal flake exterior paint, expedition kevlar 38#

I love them all!

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Updated: As of 11/30/2025

#1. Hemlock Eaglet in lite-tech replaced (Spring 2025) with a new Hemlock Eaglet "Solo" with a 2 layer epoxy boat 32#'s
#2. Swift Cruiser 16.8 in carbon fusion 31# (Spring 2025) "Replaced the Placid Shadow"
#3. Curtis Ladybug in Fiberglass 36# (Summer 2025, will be a garage queen for its remaining life only being paddled occasionally)
#4. Hornbeck "New Tricks" 14 23# (Spring 2021)

Note: New solo coming in spring 2026, a Swift Cirrus 14.6...

#1. NW Solo was sold to a friend
#2. Placid Boatworks Shadow has been sold
#3. Swift Dragonfly has been sold to a friend.

My main solo is a Northstar Phoenix in IXP. It's perfect for the shallow rocky rivers I prefer. The only downside is it's badly out of trim when my 60lb dog comes along. She doesn't come very often because rapids stress her out, but when she does the bow plows and it takes on a lot of water in wave trains. If she came along regularly I'd remount the seat farther back.

I also have a Discovery 119 and an old Dagger solo whitewater canoe. The Discovery is a stable fishing platform but it gets bullied in the wind and is a barge when there's no current and I want to make time. I keep it around because it's cheap enough that I don't mind abusing it scraping down really shallow rivers. The Dagger sits unused and unloved since I don't paddle a canoe in whitewater any more. I stick to a kayak in whitewater so I can roll - my swimming days are behind me.

I've started researching a tandem that I can use as a solo. I haven't owned a tandem canoe in decades because I prefer a solo and my wife likes her kayak. She's started to profess interest in a tandem for rivers with stronger current than she's comfortable in with her kayak. I figure I can get a tandem that I can turn around and paddle solo and/or bring my dog along. I want something fairly short that turns easily for river running and is under 45 lbs. I may start a separate thread about it when my search gets serious.

@adkjoe I've been to Jabe and Little Jabe, both great short hikes from Silver Bay. Spent many summer weeks there as a kid, and unfortunately few as an adult.

@Punkinhead I have a Northstar Polaris with 3 seats. It it works nicely as a big solo, or with me and 2 kids, or as a tandem.

It's fun to realize how much movement there has been since I first posted on this thread a couple of years ago! Current solo fleet:

• Swift WildFIRE in Expedition Kevlar - just picked it up last week - freaking LOVE this boat!!!
• Redfeather RockSTAR in what's now called RFX - she and I have had some growing pains, and I have beat the living daylights out of this boat since I got her last year, but I am starting to really love it and she came out of a disastrous interaction with a log pile on the Big Salmon this summer read to go on - will still be joining me on big river trips in the future! About the only thing that I would consider replacing her with is a SRT or Swift Dragonfly 15.
• Redfeather Merlin III (same mold as the Merlin II) in Carbon / Basalt Innegra - a dream on lake trips in Algonquin, I am realizing I am a bit heavy for the Merlin with a full tripping load, but she's still my go-to - I will just need to pack more lightly!
• Bell FlashFIRE in White Gold - a basket case of a boat that was destroyed and brought back to life by Paul at Canoe Repair Shop - just so much fun to paddle despite the fact that my 220 pounds is at the very top of the weight range - I don't think it would sell given all the damage even if I wanted to, but it's so much fun to paddle I wouldn't want to!
• Old Town Cascade "soloized" - got this in a trade and have yet to paddle - but I am thinking I will use this on rocky river solo trips like the Missinaibi or Allagash.

Not sure there is another solo I would really want - I really do love the SRT, so it would be hard to turn it down if one came my way. But the RockSTAR fills the niche - so it would be an indulgence! The boat about which I am most curious is the OG Dragonfly - I have never paddled one, but I enjoy lively solo canoes, and fear I may love it. But I am so madly in love with my WildFIRE that I do not want to try anything that could compete!

Then there is that Swift Prospector 15 solo plug I paddled last week - while not a playful boat, I can see how that could be an ideal wilderness solo tripper - and it was wide enough to really move around (something that I is difficult in my other solos - although I have yet to paddle the Cascade). Something to think about over the coming years!

My favorite (and only) solo canoe was a Blackhawk Fishhawk, purchased from a local canoe shop in the 80s.

Reasons? Perfect for my size (petite), lightweight, well suited for midwestern, class I, gravel bottom streams with occasional I+ riffles. No rocker, but still was able to pull off quick eddy turns when needed.
Was able to adapt to the fishhawk quickly, after having paddled a tandem Old Town Penobscot for 5 years (our tripping canoe).

Most importantly, solo canoeing took me to natural, wild places that inspired and fed my love of nature and wildlife, for which I will be always grateful.

Thanks much for providing such expert and interesting descriptions of your personal favorite solo canoes...in just 2 weeks, I've learned so much from y'all.

I'm inspired but not quite enough to go through 12 inches of fresh snow and paddle.

Bell Merlin II (15' - black) - longest ownership and highest mileage. About ideal for upstream and back on Michigan rivers with lots of cruising efficiency and just enough maneuverability to keep you out of trouble most of the time. Super durable carbon/kevlar.

Swift Osprey (15' - champagne) - my 2nd Osprey, 32 pounds, bought in 2011. Really fun and playful yet efficient enough for cruising. Very competent on rivers. Relatively low volume fits me. Sliding seat even allows comfy naps.

Swift Keewaydin 15 (red) - inherited from late friend. Great all around boat. Wider than Merlin II so lots more comfort, stability, safety and maneuverability. Fine on rivers or lakes. My traveling boat.

Wenonah Advantage (16'6" - gray) - first zero rocker, sitting boat I can love. Perfect (medium) volume for me. I've paddled it many times and feel like I'm still early in my learning curve. Nice change from kneeling boats. Good at cruising and I do a lot of cruising.

Blackhawk Zephyr (14'2" - white) - I paddled one for years in the 1990's and got another a few years ago. Boat is super efficient and fast (a bit faster than Merlin II I think) yet freestyle capable. It's very low volume and not easy to fit in and I'm about as big a paddler as the boat can take. Just a hot, special hoat.

Loonworks Aria (14' - blue) - made for me by Tom MacKenzie. Surprisingly light; maybe 35 pounds. Quite dreamy to paddle...kind of like a Wildfire with softer shoulders. Seemingly unaffected by moving water. Ideal and basically cheating for freestyle.