Though I am over 200# or 100 kilos, my experience has not equiped me to advise a guy at work who is showing serious interest in a solo canoe or Kayak for a pond near his house. He has passed the 300 mark and is about 1/3 of the way from there to 1/5 ton. Some of the dual use canoes (tandem/solo) look good because if they can carry 2, they can carry him. Tandem Kayaks are not so promissing because of the standard seat placement.
Sure he should shed at least 100, but that is not going to happen soon.
I have two ideas. First would be a two person canoe with a seat placed just rearward of center for his solo use. This would give him adequate capacity and good seat position.
Second I believe there are two person kayaks that can have a seat removed and the other one slid forward for single person use. I have only seen that in passing and cannot give you brands or models. I think I saw them at EMS www.ems.com
If I remember where or find them I’ll repost and give you the make and model.
this solid Uke/German decended farm-boy tickles 270 on the lbs scale. The 15ft Coleman canoe is my sneaking watercraft and handles great - even tossing in the wife and 2 kids (tossing them in the canoe that is). This canoe (is rated for 600lbs) or even the smaller Coleman (rated I believe for 400 lbs) should be fine for solo-ing a 300lb+ person.
As Jed noted - have the seat at about the 5/8’ths mark back for solo trips works great - stability and comfort. I sit on a 3 gal. plastic water can with knee pads and bumpers under the ankles. This give a low CofG and I can go for hours.
There’s other makes / models for sure - pick one as deemed fit.
I use my 50 lb, 17 ft. cedarstrip canoe for solo fly fishing all the time by placing a temp stadium seat in front of the back thwart. Obviously it’d be easier getting in and out without the yoke in the middle but I’m still doing it at 63 years of age with a bad knee and a belly full of opulence. JGW
Being from MN you might have seen one of these gadjets. It replaces the center thwart and functions as a yoke in the position shown or flips over to become a seat as shown with the rowing kit. When I used it for fishing, I actually did not flip it over to the “seat” position. The extra height helped, I think.
At a little over 80 pounds (fiberglass) that canoe was a handful to load and unload myself. So I got a kevlar UL solo that weighs 35# for when I go solo.
Yeah, those work. However, my yoke is screwed in tight so it isn’t going to be moving much. That would be a great thing for my Meryln solo, though. JGW
Didn’t Dick Blalock have the same problem toward the end of his life? I believe that he tipped his canoe over in cold weather and had a devil of a time getting back to his car. :shock: Seriously, something to think about. 8T
That is what Howell Reines reported as Blalock’s problem. My friend has none of those cardiac and circulatory problems.
I think Blalock tipped a boat-not a canoe-in the episode you have in mind. They did swamp a canoe during a river trip earlier.
Neither my co-worker no Dick had any problems finding a boat capable of supporting the weight.
I just read the book a while back so some of the details are fresher in my mind.
That is what Howell Reines reported as Blalock’s problem. My friend has none of those cardiac and circulatory problems.
I think Blalock tipped a boat-not a canoe-in the episode you have in mind. They did swamp a canoe during a river trip earlier.
Neither my co-worker no Dick had any problems finding a boat capable of supporting the weight.
