I'm struggling. My newbys are thinking of picking up a couple solo bell canoes while they still can. Whats the scoop with stacking for transport?.........the thought makes me a bit uneasy. I think I remember seeing it done but never paid any attention to how. Whose got the skinny on how it's done?

4 bell merlins..........1 roof rack..........I wonder if I can run them sideways? Strap 2 gunnel to gunnel? Rinse and repeat?

This is a different concern but I'll still throw it out there..........I'm not sure I want to see the 14 year old in a solo on Lake Superior. We will be on protected waters for the most part but that water can take your breath away in a hurry...........and this being his first time in a solo.........I'm a bit troubled.

We had them set up in a kev Bell Northwoods but they are liking the solo idea. Np problem with transport before as we put one of the solos inside the Northwoods.

Just found all this out yesterday.........been turning it around and around. any thoughts?

DITTO...DITTO...DITTO  SoloTripper.

I just can't  support a 14 year old or any newbies soloing in Lake Superior. Too risky.

Well that didn't take long............
At first I was pleased to think he would make the investment of 2 boats indicating that after 2 trips he liked it..........Alot

But the uneasiness set in shortly thereafter when I started thinking about the big water........ You have stiffened my resolve. I'll suggest he still pick up the boats but they need to stay home this summer. They can get some practice time in this fall and next spring and then maybe they can take them to WCP next summer.

2 solos, 1 tandem is the right mix.

Good advice MP.........I will pass it on that there are indeed other good solos out there.

I hadn't even known they were entertaining the thought of picking up some new rides. I expressed my concerns to them this evening about the cold water and they were completely receptive and were in fact one step ahead of me wanting some practice time and are considering a trailer.

New boats or not I still intend to discourage them from paddling solos on Superior. Still going to be frigid in June. (hopefully the gigantimungus northerns will still be shallow........another reason for a bigger boat )

[quote]Otherwise don't sweat too much over it.  Odds are that nothing bad is going to happen.
Painters on all boats.  PFDS on at all times.  Most boating accidents are the result of poor judgment & plain honest stupidity. [/quote

One way to look at it. I'm assuming your " group leader"?
My question to you is, " IF something bad happens, what would you be willing to do to save a life? Risk others lives no matter the odds? Do what's prudent and live with the consequences? When something bad happens there's little comfort in knowing it was a long shot.

Practicing the self rescue techniques Preacher mentioned in a inland lake may or may not help your cause. Even if they can do everything mentioned, in the frigid waters of Superior with your body going numb in minutes, I doubt any but the most experienced canoeist's could pull it off. It might give them a false sense of safety/competence that won't translate in the frigid Superior waters.
PFD's are great, they'll keep above water and save energy you'd use treading water without them. Painters are great too, but unless you could secure a line to the PFD of the dumped canoes occupant they probably wouldn't be able to hang onto a line for very long if at all.
I have a D-Ring on the chest of my PFD. I suppose if you rigged a Carabiner with a spring loaded gate to each canoes stern painter and could somehow clip to PFD of person in the water, you could then kneel and tow them into shore?
I mentioned before that on one backpack trip on Isle Royale, we were camped at Windingo waiting to take the shuttle back around next day to Rock Harbor and our flight home. We ran into a solo kayak-er that had dumped coming into Windingo Harbor running from a sudden squall on the open water.
He had a full wet suit and it was all he could do to get his kayak righted/bailed even in the calm waters. In the open waters, he didn't think he wouldn't been able to do it. Said he probably would of bailed and swam for shore.
I still think the tandem/ 2 solo's is the best compromise between prudence/safety and the odds that nothing is probably going to go wrong.
IF you can convince them to go that route, maybe you can try a real world experiment. If I remember correctly, there are some very nice campsites right out on Superior. One I remember had a nice little protected bay, sand beach, relatively shallow shelf.
Put on your bathing suits/PFD's go out waist/chest deep and dump your empty solo canoes and see who can get back in on their own. Who can feel their extremities after a few minutes
Then you can talk about a 4 solo trip