I seriously considered not doing a trip this year due to a nagging shoulder problem I developed this summer. The idea of a tripless year was more than I could stand and Kingfisher was kind enough to loan me his Prism (Kevlar, Flex-Core I believe). I don't like too much change all at once so whey my RubberMaid foodpack fit so nicely ;) and after a test paddle for the shoulder, I secured a Pickerel reservation and hoped for the best. (Thanks again! Much appreciated.)

My usual solo boat is actually a smallish tandem, Sawyer Cruiser ~56 pounds, 17'-9" 30.5" waterline max width. I love that boat and we've done probably two dozen or so solos together so I know it very well and I don't like changing things that work for me. Unfortunately that's the only boat I've ever soloed in for more than a day or a few minutes here and there so it's all I really have to compare the Prism to.

First, some general impressions on the Prism. What an incredibly stable boat! Stable almost the point of being boring IMO. I'm going to have to be careful the next time I use my (asls very stable) Cruiser. The thing that really impressed me though was how well it handled wind and waves. Coming around one particular windy point on Sturgeon, I paddled in the biggest rollers I've ever paddled intentionally. The tops of some of the larger swells would come straight over the bow yet that boat was so easy to control and make forward progress with I was truly amazed. I was never concerned for my safety in waves after that.

There was one aspect that has me confused though. With my own boat, I can paddle a straight line from either side all day long no problem any conditions. Same thing with the Prism but only in calm conditions (although it does wobble a bit with each stroke).

Here's what I don't get. Even in a little wind, from a medium chop on up, I ALWAYS had to switch after every few strokes. I had to. I could not paddle a freaken straight line from either side to save my life in any wind at all. (Never had any trailing wind so....) It didn't matter which direction the wind was coming from. I couldn't even keep it straight with the wind at a 90 degree angle to the canoe. With my own boat, It's takes some effort to get the nose into the wind from that angle. Prism, two strokes if need be.

I know these are two completely different boats and I only have a hundred or so miles of Prism experience but I just don't get it. Any insight on tracking in wind other Prism paddlers might be willing to share?

The other small thing was while the acceleration was a refreshing change, the deceleration of the Prism was conversely disappointing. I had read reviews that talked about it's glide. I was traveling lighter than I'm use to but still, glide is not a term I'd use to describe the paddling characteristics of the Prism. Seaworthy, defiantly. Glide, not so much. Tracking, yes and no.

FWIW - KF removed the pedestal seat and installed a fixed one at the farthest back position as I understand it. For calm seas I happened to have a handy makeshift backrest too. Between that and the foot brace, I felt like I was 16 again driving a HS girlfriend's dad's Vet. In wind I could sit up with a foot under the seat and lock myself in. It was a mighty nice setup for my taste.

In any case, as much as I don't get the yak paddle thing, in that particular canoe, I can kind-of understand the reasoning. I still don't like it but it seems reasonable for that boat.

I'd welcome thoughts and insights from solo type paddlers. I simply don't understand why I couldn't paddle a straight line in wind in that thing. At this point I'm thinking some weird aerodynamics of that extreme tumblehome..... Hit a wave wrong and you get a sheet of water over the side. DOH! I wasn't use to that either but all in all I did like the boat. If it were mine, I'd consider removing the back thwart and moving the seat back a few inches. All in all though , the Prism is indeed a darn nice canoe and a refreshing change IMO.

BTW - for all you cheap frugal soloers like me, if you can swing it, you might give a true solo boat some serious thought. It's one of a very few things hindsight has me wishing I'd have done ~20 years ago. It's kind-of nice not being windbound when even tandems with any common sense at all are hunkered down.