Has anyone here paddled Souris River's solo Tranquility? I have their Quetico 16 rigged for solo right now. Its plenty squirrely on flat water which of course means great on a crooked river. I am wondering if the Tranquility tracks better. I have paddled a Wenonah Advantage they go straight but they can be stubborn to turn. I am looking for the sweet spot. What are you solo guys paddling?

I paddle a rented Q-16 solo, paddling from the front seat. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by being "squirrely" on flat water?

I've found that if I keep the heaviest pack the closest to the bow, it handles okay considering the "solo" seat is a little too far back for optimum handling.

It's slower than a true solo for sure, but with my faithful double paddle, it's an acceptable for the tradeoff of stability and load capacity and
ease of loading.

I did paddle an older Tranquility one time and it was the only time I've went over solo.
The newer models with the sliding seat and height adjustability might be better stability wise, but I'd rent one and bring all my packs along and see if they'll fit in the canoe without sticking up becoming a wind catcher and even more important raising the center of gravity.

I had to lay my one of my full size packs sideways and the other was flat but sticking way up above the gunnels.
I never felt comfortable because it was so unstable I knew the slightest mis-step I was going over.

If your gear is solo size, then that may not be as issue, but I'd try before I buy for sure.

When I buy a Q-16, I'll move the seat a little more towards the center and relocate the yoke, so I can remove the front seat and get the load even further toward the bow when solo.
I took the "front" seat out this year on in my rental, and I noticed a significant difference in handling being able to slide heaviest pack closer to the bow.

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I paddle an Advantage and have taken it all over the Q in some pretty harsh conditions. I travel light (usually single portage) and like the speed and tracking of the hull. After all I spend most of the time going relatively straight- for the crooked parts I just learned to work the boat.

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Solo Tripper the Q16 I have only has 1 seat mounted midship. It was setup for solo only. I have thought about relocating the seat back several inches to see if that would improve the tracking.

I didn't realize you had the now discontinued Q-16 Solo. I think you might be on to something with your idea about moving the solo center seat, aft a little bit.

I'm no canoe expert that's for sure but I've read some on the merits of having a center seat solo and one setting back some.
I understood from the Souris River web site that your solo Q-16's seat was set a little back from true center?

Depending on how you load your packs/weight distribution counting your weight, it still might need to go back further?

I like to set-up slightly bow heavy, and setting the tandem up as pictured seem to my experience a step in the right direction.

Since you already have the canoe, it would seem to make sense you see if moving your seat backward would make it better for you.

I think at least to my admittedly limited experience, this guy makes a lot of sense.

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A flat bottom boat will slide side to side easier than one with more of an arc in it's bottom cross section regardless of the rocker.  Maybe that's what's happening??
Plus ST uses a kayak paddle so he's limiting the need to switch sides for course corrections.
Maybe you should try a kayak paddle first??
Or work on your J stroke with a straight blade?
A good J stroke won't slow you down like a rudder does, and can be very enjoyable.

I read ST's Redrock link and it's probably right about using a J stroke sitting in the center. If you've in a flat bottom boat it'll side slip more than turn. But I know from experience that it works fine in a boat with a more rounded hull, i.e. Argosy, Voyager, Racing C-1. But SR are usually more flat bottom so the J may not be the answer.

"I am wondering if the Tranquility tracks better. I have paddled a Wenonah Advantage they go straight but they can be stubborn to turn. I am looking for the sweet spot. What are you solo guys paddling? "

tranquility is not going to fit that sweet spot I don't think.  I've never paddled one, but from what I've heard they are hard tracking - met a guy on a portage in Quetico that was using a rented Tranquility - he hated it and was exiting earlier than planned because he disliked the boat so much - he said it was hard to turn and that's what he didn't like


the link below is to P-net reviews - only two for this boat; both mention tracking - straight keel 

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I have a Bell Merlin II and Mad River Independence and Wen Rendezvous and PakCanoe 150 - none are "hard tracking" - I like to be able to turn my boats without a fight.

just guessing, but I'd say the Merlin II would be what you are wanting - would have to find a used one though.  Magic is harder tracking than the Merlin, but I think less so than Tranquility.   best to test drive if possible - when I was looking to buy I test paddled Merlin and Magic back to back twice on a lake in somewhat windy conditions - the Merlin was what I wanted for sure after that. (mine is set up with the higher hung seat for sitting, not kneeling)

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Lucky me......I never test paddled anything other than having had a Coleman plastic canoe and went and bought a Merlin, then drove to the Q without having even tried it........ that was a decade ago and I have never regretted the choice. Good all around boat.........

[quote author=Mad_Mat link=1416515360/6#6 date=1416588613]"I am wondering if the Tranquility tracks better. I have paddled a Wenonah Advantage they go straight but they can be stubborn to turn. I am looking for the sweet spot. What are you solo guys paddling? "

tranquility is not going to fit that sweet spot I don't think.  I've never paddled one, but from what I've heard they are hard tracking - met a guy on a portage in Quetico that was using a rented Tranquility - he hated it and was exiting earlier than planned because he disliked the boat so much - he said it was hard to turn and that's what he didn't like


the link below is to P-net reviews - only two for this boat; both mention tracking - straight keel 

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I have a Bell Merlin II and Mad River Independence and Wen Rendezvous and PakCanoe 150 - none are "hard tracking" - I like to be able to turn my boats without a fight.

just guessing, but I'd say the Merlin II would be what you are wanting - would have to find a used one though.  Magic is harder tracking than the Merlin, but I think less so than Tranquility.   best to test drive if possible - when I was looking to buy I test paddled Merlin and Magic back to back twice on a lake in somewhat windy conditions - the Merlin was what I wanted for sure after that. (mine is set up with the higher hung seat for sitting, not kneeling)

similar thread from MyCCR
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Ted Bell's new company, Northstar Canoes, makes a "Northwind Solo" which is very similar to the Merlin II.  Check it out. 

puckster

I rented a Tranquility two years ago and loved it. Beaverhouse- Cirrus - Kasakokwog- Quetico - Beaverhouse.  I wouldn't want to ever pad sf le another solo.

I'm 6'-2", 225, a duffer that loves paddling, sit, hit and switch with a straigh shaft.

Thanks for the input fella's.  I am working out  a plan for a sliding seat bracket that will hang from the gunwale that will allow me to hopefully find the sweet spot. But now we are in the hard water season and I am enjoying the early start to the Cross-Country ski season.

Souris River have a sliding seat option for the Tranquility, was on my rental and a appreciated it.

Careful hanging the seat from the gunwales, especially if you're a bigger guy. Piragis has replaced a number of Bell hanging seats with floor mounted sliders after the brackets have broken or stressed the side walls of the hull (and Bell adds an extra layer of cloth in the center to support the seat). Generally a problem associated with paddlers of 200# or better. You can buy a complete floor mounted sliding seat and bracket from Wenonah.

I don't understand the difficulty people have with straight tracking hulls; much easier to learn to turn a hard tracking hull than to make a wandering hull travel straight efficiently.

Fallguy wrote on Nov 22^nd, 2014 at 1:32pm:

Thanks for the input fella's.  I am working out  a plan for a sliding seat bracket that will hang from the gunwale that will allow me to hopefully find the sweet spot. But now we are in the hard water season and I am enjoying the early start to the Cross-Country ski season.

I wasn't going to bring this up, but your post and Solus opened the door, so I figure I'd walk on thru. ;D

Fallguy, was I right about your solo seat being not dead center? If so, that "sweet spot" might not be so far that you need a elaborate sliding seat with all that adjustability or possible stress on the gunnels?

Just thinking out loud here, but what if you got some aircraft grade aluminum channel the same size/thickness as the hanging brackets you already have. Bolt those to the existing brackets using stainless carriage bolts and the existing holes. Allow the channel to cantilever over back toward the stern, say no more than the width of the seat. I think that a matter of a few inches and proper pack loading would have a great effect on handling.

You don't want to get the load completely off the existing hangar brackets, but I think you could go as far as having the front seat bar set to the middle of your existing bracket and the rear in the cantilevered channel.
If you wanted to get fancy, you could mill slots in the aluminum channel and be able to slide the seat in more increments.

Just a thought. Might prove worse than a hanging bracket, but could easily C-clamp the channel pieces in and move the seat and see how it looks and get a feel if it would stress the existing hangars to much?

I found myself without a solo canoe after having a Magic for several years. I rented a Tranquility for a week with the intent of taking it home after the week.  Instead I bought another Magic.  The lack of tumble home and its ability to catch the wind was what convinced me it was not the boat for me. I have sense found a smaller boat I like for solo trips better than the Magic. I use the Magic as a tandem with some kids.

The Tranquility that I rented had a sliding seat in it from the factory The factory installed slider allows easy adjusting for the seat position from a little to fare forward to way way too far forward.

Solus I weigh about 175 now and am trying to get back to 165. My seat was originally hung with 4 bolts and wood dowel spacers. The wood dowels were cracking so I have changed the wood out for 3/8 aluminum tube. My first plan is to shift the seat back by putting the front bolts in the original back holes and drill to new holes for the back bolts. The lack of tumble home does cause for some knuckle banging on the gunwales for sure. That is another reason I was thinking of a different canoe an Wenonah or Bell.

The last six or so years I've borrowed solo boats instead of paddling my tandem Cruiser solo as I had done for a lot of years. When I was 130 lbs, my unloaded Cruiser was indeed squirrely! It was so squirrely I tried to tip it one hot afternoon with the wind blowing into a sandy beach campsite. It was damn hard to do intentionally!

I borrowed a Prism, a Magic and a Tranquility for I think at least two trips each now. All three are great. I see them each as different tools as I try to allow them do what they are good at. The Prism truly loved being paddled straight into the wind. The Magic with the rounder bottom, truly loved being paddled with the troughs that I would never trust doing with the Prism.

The Tranquility was a happy medium in a way and overall drier w/o the tumblehome. I want my paddle to be vertical, especially if I want to go straight paddling solo. To me, tumblehome just makes it more difficult to load and unload. I have no intention to heal any boat that far. I just don't paddle often enough to get that much of a feel for any boat - err tool.

I probably have over 10 different hammers and just like a hammer, these days a canoe is a tool chosen with a specific purpose in mind.

The seat in the Tranquility was interesting. Not only can you slide it back and forth (and if it were my boat I'd move the whole contraption back as much as possible as I'll kneel if needed) you can adjust the height and/or the front to back tilt which is a really nice option on a rental boat.

Yup. (To DB's post.)

Thanks of the insight db. Did you feel like it was a reach to get your paddle vertical while sitting in the middle of the seat? With my Q16 I have to slide to the side a couple inches which is a pain when I want to switch sides with the paddle.