Pook wrote:
Your definition of what you want to choose for a solo canoe seems to be predicated by what you don't want to carry.
Paddling a cedar canvas is like nothing else. They are responsive, handle beautifully and are 'alive' on water
So please, choose your canoe based upon what you want to paddle. Period.
Bruce, I agree with all of that.
I’ll grant the “environmentally friendly” aspect, perhaps excluding the filler, sizing, paint, etc. Several of our modern materials boats are environmentally friendly in one regard; they were dumpster-ready freebies or dirt cheap used boats that I resurrected and saved from a landfill final destination.
We do not currently own any wood/canvas canoes. The ones I have paddled did delightfully feel more “alive” on the water, in ways somehow lacking with our Royalex or composite canoes.
Likewise I do not now own a 2-seat roadster, but the one I owned in the 70’s had that same “alive” feeling on the road. Today I have no use for a roadster, a small pickup truck is far more suited to my needs, augmented by a full size van for family trips.
In much the same vein I have no use for a W/C canoe. I lack sufficient indoor storage (currently have 5 boats stored indoors, none are going to the outside rack).
The next canoe I own – there is always a next canoe – will be a sub 50lb solo in the 15 to 16 foot range. And sub 45-lbs would be better. And yeah, that is based on what I don’t want to carry.