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Solo Canoe for Ohio and Mississippi River

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I gave up hiking/backpacking due to a bad knee and now am involved in paddling. My wife and I both own Delta Kayaks and have thoroughly enjoyed paddling on lakes, streams and rivers. I love paddling but do not like sitting in a kayak for hours and then struggling to get out of it. Therefore, I am considering buying a solo canoe to use on the nearby Ohio River and eventually the Mississippi. I am not in an area where I can try out each canoe. My research has led me to consider Northstar Trillium and Northstar Solo. Also, I have research Placid Boatworks Rapidfire and the Clipper Sea-1. I am 5' 6" and 150 lbs. What other canoes should I consider in my research?
 
Welcome to site membership, dbp! Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos in our many forums. We look forward to your participation in our canoe community. You might consider putting your location in your profile, so it shows up under your avatar in posts.

do not like sitting in a kayak for hours and then struggling to get out of it

If that's so, sitting on the bottom of pack canoe such as a Placid Rapidfire, which are essentially deckless kayaks, isn't all that much more comfortable, other than the absence of a cockpit. You probably would be more comfortable, especially as you age further, on an elevated canoe seat. Which raises the fundamental issue of whether to get a canoe designed for sitting or one designed for kneeling.


This could indicate that you may not be comfortable in a kneeling canoe. Any very narrow solo canoe, such as the Northstar Trillium, will be primarily a kneeling canoe. I don't know about the Northstar Solo.

You might want to seek out wider solo canoes—e.g., at least 28" at the waterline—or small tandems in which you can sit with comfort and good initial stability. Any canoe made with tractor seats is designed as a sitting canoe.

The Clipper Sea-1 is a rare canoe in the East and I've never seen one in person. You would sit higher than in a kayak or pack canoe but probably lower than in an open canoe. Probably harder to enter and exit than an open canoe.

Deciding on length, width, weight, price level, and sitting design vs. kneeling design are general first steps in the decisional process.
 
A spray cover such as those made by CCS can help in wind as well as deflecting splashes from waves so you could have some of the advantages of a decked canoe with any canoe. Don't know if you are looking for new or used, but if you can find a suitable used canoe to start with, even if it isn't the perfect choice, paddling that would help refine your preferences before spending the money to purchase new.

If you happen across a Hemlock Kestrel or Peregrine those would be worth considering in addition to those you mentioned.
 
I really like the concept of decked canoes, especially on bigger water. The larger cockpits on them makes for easy entry.

I was looking into a Clipper Sea 1 a while back but their web site says "unavailable" but I've never paddled one either. I can vouch for the Wenonah Canak and Savage River Falcon as being great canoes. Wenonah's Voyager is a wonderful tripper whether loaded or not.
 
The Wenonah Voyager is great on big rivers like the Mississippi if you want to get going and paddle at a steady pace to cover distance, though it can be hard to handle in the wind, but it is not good for start and stop sorts of trips. Before paddling the Voyager I didn't really appreciate the effect of skin friction. In the Voyager I realized after a club day trip that involved repeated getting going then pausing to view flora and fauna or to wait for slower paddlers to catch up that skin friction can be a significant factor. Even though the Voyager is great for covering distances on flat water, the frequent starting and stopping made that trip a lot of work because it took effort to accelerate the Voyager after each stop. That led me to later purchase a Hemlock Kestrel for such day trips.
 
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