Next spring I'm planning on my first solo, kind of. I'll be entering mid week ahead of my group by about three days and meeting up with them on some undecided lake. I haven't paddled a solo before but looking to buy one this fall or winter. I'm six one and tip the scales at 270(ding). Any suggestions on a solo that wound be accommodating to my packs and my girth? Hopefully the weight heads south before next spring!

Hello! I am a big guy as well... 6'5" and about 410lbs. I just got back from a 3 person trip so I was solo with a dog and my my own gear in a 14' Radisson Lightweight Aluminum Canoe (41 lbs stock). With a 38" wide beam, it was extremely stable and is foam lined for sound/flotation. The aluminum was great for landings etc... Radisson makes a 12' that books at 34 pounds which would probably work just as well depending on gear. I know that a short canoe usually does not handle well, but this thing tracks like a racing canoe! Just my 2 cents... Hope it helps!

Radisson Canoes

A Bell Magic will easily handle your weight. I have a 6'3" friend that have run around 285lbs and had no problems with it. Nice canoe that tracks extremely well. So nice I bought one myself. :)

I did my first solo two years ago, i rented a Wenonah Encounter. 16 1/2 feet and tracks straight and fast. I am 250 and 6ft. i had a 75# pack and it worked perfect. I used it again the next year and am planning on buying one when i get the chance. Hope this helps.

Wenonah Prism will work for you.

At 6'3" and 260 I wondered about what solo canoe to get too. I ended up with a Bell Rockstar that works like a champ. Plenty of capacity and it fits me like a glove. Highly recommended - if you can find one...

I'm 6-2 and 220 and am trying a Souris River Tranquility as my first solo trip this September and will let you know. I have gone to the Tranquility because I love my SR Quetico 17 - rugged and stable - and believe the Tranquility to be of the same canoe DNA. Not the fastest or best tracking necessarily, but rugged, stable, and certainly high capacity.

Thanks for all the replys. I am leaning towards a magic but I heard they are no longer made. Is that true? Anyway, I guess I should get to Ely and test paddle a few. Thanks again.

can't go wrong with a Wenonah Prism

I am not tall 5'8" 220 but like the ROOM and DEPTH of the Bell RockStar. Mine is a Kevlite Layup. 32 lbs with Aluminum Gunwales.
Trust me I had a 55lb pack 33 lb pack 6 lb thwart bag, 65 lb lab up front, me at 220, and spare paddle etc. So it will handle you and you will love it! Not Joking!
SunCatcher

Here's a compariosn sheet I prepared and keep up as I learn of other solo's I might consider. (The SR Q17 tandem is what I have no and use it for comparison - though lots of people use it for solo trips.) Keep in mind that as best anyone can tell or report, Bell is not in production, so maybe they will come back or maybe you can find used. All I've decided is that I want to paddle whatever I might buy for at least a short trip - several days - so I know how it feels in different conditions while tripping.

Bill's list is incomplete probably because there are boats that are not often seen in the Midwest.

Merrimack Baboosuc is a big guy boat and the Bell/Placid/Colden StarFire. Both require good paddler skills to track yet are very maneuverable under a load. Some boats get very sticky and hard to turn under a load. To me the Souris River Tranquility is the most work..and hardest to turn especially under load.

I dont see Hemlocks Eaglet either. Nor Swifts venerable Shearwater.

Yes it is - based on canoes that I see or hear of being common or recommended to boundary waters that "I might consider" for me. Pretty narrow focus on flat water trippers since this is BWCA.COM, with flat or flatter bottoms and little or no rocker. I looked at the Baboosic web page and it only took me a second to see I would never consider it, with terms like quick, agile, backwater, and a total of 6" of rocker. I wouldn't get 100 yards in light ripples before dumping. Couldn't find a picture of the Starfire but one review told me it was not for me.

I'll repeat that since you have never soloed, I really recommend trying one out for a short trip before buying a new one.

Investigate the kneeling. sitting issue (I'll never kneel); tractor versus bench seat; and probably more important than size, the type of water you will paddle in and your desire for initial stability. I was also interested in width at the gunwale so I could keep using my packs - 2 large CCS and and a bunch of Kondos #3's.

If you want to do streams and rivers, feel you're a better than intermediate canoer, and so on, yellowcanoe is probably a very good resource.

Bill here is a picture of a StarFire

http://www.coldencanoe.com/Starfire.html

This one is outfitted with three seats. Personally I have not seen it outfitted that way..usually its two with a kneeling thwart.

My new love for Quetico tripping.. Handles big lake waves really really well. It is not a starter boat perhaps. However beginners in Pennsylvania all loved it as they had no knowledge of it being for "advanced paddlers" whatever that is. BubbaFly is under development for bigger guys. Bubba Fly is just the working name!

http://www.coldencanoe.com/Dragonfly.html


And maybe the Wenonah Rendezvous might also be worth consideration. Plugged as a river runner it does flats just fine. And its pretty quick like most Wenonahs. I have the littler Argosy but its too small for bigger folks and load.

This is all very well and a sidetrack for the OP.. maybe if we knew where they were renting from we might know what they have to pick from.

I've got you beat on the "Big Guy" factors (6'2" & 285) and I have a Wenonah Voyager. It can carry you a lots of stuff.

Here are some pretty good reviews of it that spell out the pros and cons: Voyager Reviews

I just finished my first solo last month. Rented a 16' Souris River solo Kevlar from VNO. I'm 5'8" and weigh 280 lbs. It fit me, a large dry pack (yellow rubber) about 50 lbs., and my food barrel in a duffel with some misc. gear at about 40 lbs. (on the first day). It handled like a dream. I had some wind (nothing too strong) and I had no problem staying on course. I've never been in a tandem that handled that well, even with an experienced paddler in the other seat.