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Northstar's Phoenix could be regarded at their version of a solo Prospector. If I were looking to buy something that can handle class II+, yet still do OK on flatwater, my first choice would be the Phoenix in IXP layup. Cliff Jacobsen has high praise for it.

I'm not sure what you mean by responsiveness. There is turning responsiveness and straight line responsiveness. If you want a really stable canoe with good speed and a lot of capacity, the Wenonah Encounter would be a good choice, but a bit of a bear to turn. If you order if from a dealer...

This is why I posted a thread about the touring kayak option. Much better in wind. Also faster than the Encounter. On a Stillwater Canyon trip I tried to catch two people in sea kayaks and got my butt handed to me. Being able to carry a river toilette or cooler is a huge advantage for a...

Now hold on guys (and any gals). I didn't say touring kayaks are better. I didn't say you should buy a touring kayak instead of a canoe. What I said was you should, at least, consider them next time you are shopping for a solo boat. I'm not selling my Northwind solo or my Echo. But now I have...

That's just my crossover kayak. My touring kayak holds a couple weeks worth of gear.

I'm not saying buy Chevy, I'm saying take it for a test drive.

You can argue the pros and cons of paddling solo with a single bladed paddle vs. a double bladed paddle all day long. I've made my choice. I'm not a suffering is good for the soul kind of guy. I can go faster with less concentration and frustration with a double bladed paddle. Most solo canoes...

Well, that's an interesting thought. My first canoe was a Discovery 174 and I changed the thwart lengths to make it more suitable for whitewater, but sold it before I ever got to try it out. If you pull in the gunnels, it has the effect of reducing the rocker, which wouldn't be good and...

Forgive me if I've said any of this before. Just got a watched thread notice in my emails and thought I'd jump in. I've had my Echo for a couple years now, at least, but haven't taken it on a trip. I spent quite a bit of time and money converting it to a pack style canoe, using parts from...

There are several factors that go into how stable a boat feels. One is, of course, width. All else being equal, a longer boat will be more stable. All else being equal, a boat that had more volume in the ends, like the Phoenix, will be more stable. A flat bottom boat has the highest primary...

You are assuming the Phoenix is less stable than all the other boats under consideration. Not sure that's true. If you really want a boat that feels stable with a dog shifting around, you want a flat bottom canoe designed for fishing.

Why would having a dog rule out the Phoenix?

I've converted both my solo canoes to pack style. I ordered foam seats, back rests, curved thwarts and kayak style footbrace from Northstar. The advantage of converting is you can adjust the seat height by gluing a layer or two of minicell foam under the preformed foam seat. I added a one inch...

You might include the Northstar Phoenix in there.

Both look pretty nice. Especially like the Placid. A lot of boats available in the East aren't available in Colorado. I'm pretty much restricted to Northstar and Wenonah, as far as high end composite boats.

When I'm excited, animated, really into the conversation, I guess my volume goes up. On a trip in May, there were only three of us, and we were sitting around, having snacks and talking. The other guy in the group suddenly yelled at me, and yelled isn't an exaggeration, "Hey, you don't have to...

I have a North Wind solo, but the only river trip I've taken with it is Labyrinth Canyon. Having just taken a tandem canoe down a class II river, I can't picture taking my North Wind down a similar river. It's a little shallow and slow to turn. I'm not saying it can't be done, with float bags or...

Well, yes and no. A composite boat is much more expensive, though the Echo isn't cheap for a plastic solo. In shallow, rocky rivers, T-Formex slides over the rocks better. There are places I'd use my Echo that I wouldn't use my North Wind for fear of damaging it. The Echo may turn out to be fine...

I'm not sure I'd even recommend it for class II without a spaycover. I have a class II trip coming up, in the fall, and I've been debating on whether to use my Echo. Maybe I mentioned this before, but I had an ACA certified instructor take mine out for a paddle and she seemed pretty impressed...

Most (All?) kayak paddles come with drip rings. I've found them to be a long way from 100% effective. I tried the tape thing, a couple summers ago, and didn't find it helpful. I have a friend that made a cover to catch drips. I'm currently just using a large block of open cell foam to catch and...