My primary usage will be Michigan rivers and lakes, we don't have anything extreme here if you avoid the waterfalls. Plan to do day trips down rivers for fishing, river camping trips (usually only 2-3 days) and lake trips at places like Craig lake and Sylvania. Probably also exploring and fishing small lakes I find back in the woods as well. Just general all around use but thinking river floats for steelhead fishing (float, beach, fish, repeat) will outnumber the wilderness lake tripping since my wife doesn't seem interested in canoe camping. Eventually I hope to go more places outside of Michigan when I retire but the majority of the time will be nearby places. Will likely do some float hunts or hunting trips around wilderness lakes but even a phoenix will haul my camp kit and a Michigan whitetail and have capacity to spare.
The reason for trying out the tandem hulls is that I have always run tandems solo for all my tripping the past ~40 years so that is what I am used to. I will probably like the solo boats better but as long as I am trying boats out I may as well try a few different options. I always read on here recommendations to try out several boats before buying if you can. I currently have a sportspal s13 I bought new about 8-9 years ago for fishing small lakes (done a couple river trips with it also) and old town 158 discovery that was given to me which is a good river beater if I don't have to portage that 90lb rig (I can still lift and carry it around the yard easily but portages aren't always flat, open ground). The s13 doesn't paddle very well so generally I use an electric motor. I bought a double end canoe paddle a few years ago and the helps quite a bit but still leaves a lot to be desired for a relaxing day paddle. I posted about 18 months ago about what I was looking for then life got in the way and I never ended up trying out any boats. All the boats I listed are around 16', can be used solo and could work well for rivers and lakes from what I read. The B16, Polaris and Pearl will probably be too big but I won't know unless I try them. Those would be really nice for the occasion a friend could go with me but that probably won't happen often so really low on my needs list. I originally wanted a do-everything light weight solo-able tandem tripping boat that paddled great and would also be a great fishing rig. My plan now is to keep the sportspal with trolling motor for fishing centric outings and have a lighter, more portage and paddle friendly boat for exploring/camping that I can still cast a line out of but doesn't have to be stand-up stable. Sportspal is like a 55lb row boat and is an excellent lightweight fishing platform. I may even build a rack on the truck that can haul two boats for extended camping trips (hauling 5th wheel camper) so I can have both options.
I generally don't hit much in the river, stumps or submerged logs across the floatable portion of a river but those are usually pretty smooth and you can glide/slide over, sometimes a submerged rock if it can't be helped or can't be seen but that's rare and usually not normally hard impacts. I have been on quite a few trips where I haven't hit anything and I am pretty good at reading water. Other trips where there is a lot of wood in the water that can't be avoided. Probably have to drag it over log jams regularly but that isn't high impact. If the river is really shallow I get out and walk my boat so it doesn't drag over rocks. I have only had heavy fiberglass, plastic or aluminum boats so was wondering what experienced composite boat users think about adding ~5lbs to get rid of the foam core or if foam core tech has improved enough that it just doesn't cause issues these days. Seems like if it wasn't an issue Northstar wouldn't have come up with BL HD? I guess if I think about it, carrying 33lbs vs 28lbs (if I go with phoenix) in exchange for potentially not having to buy a new boat it is a pretty easy decision. Hoping I have 15-20 years left where I can carry a canoe around and 33lbs is still pretty light.
