Help Choosing my First WW Solo Canoe

[Dave.E]

My advice...

Get the cheapest boat you can find that will get you on the water. That way you can meet other paddlers and try other boats. Once you decide what boat you really want, chances are you can sell the one that you bought used for the same price you bought it for.

That's what I did anyways.

Dave

[milkman]

Get the cheapest boat you can find that will get you on the water. That way you can meet other paddlers and try other boats. Once you decide what boat you really want, chances are you can sell the one that you bought used for the same price you bought it for.

Now that's great advice.

In our club, one year we had a "musical boats" session for class 2 paddlers where people switched boats all day. The favorite boat turned out to be the Ocoee. The group was mostly lighter people and the Ocoee that was out there was a Bell, which is a light layup. Paddlers found the boat to be easy to accelerate, easy to maneuver, and easy to make eddies with.

While I love the plastic (PE) canoes, I would think for someone at the class 2 level at your size, they're a bit of a risk without trying first. They can be hard to accelerate if you don't have a good, efficient forward stroke. I'd be inclined to go with the advice given here to look for a used Prodigy, Bell Ocoee, Dagger Phantom (several women in the Vancouver BC Beaver Canoe Club like these), or Zoom to start and then try some of the PE boats when you get a chance.

The Millbrook boats suggested are interesting choices as well, but require more care in avoiding rocks and being careful than I'd like if I were a beginner. They are easy to carry, easy to accelerate.

If you are interested in PE boats, the Blackfly Option is very popular for its stability. It would be great to hear from some light paddlers how they like the Option. The Prelude is worth looking into as well. It's famed instability isn't so bad for light paddlers and it accelerates well for a PE boat. It's what my wife (5'5" paddles), but she's a bit of a ringer here--she has years of canoeing experience. One advantage of a PE boat is you can drag them on trails rather than carry them. You don't leave a trail of colored vinyl behind you like a Royalex boat or put scrapes in the hull like you would with a composite boat. The PE boats are very tough.

[arhdc]

An Outrage should be on your list of boats to try as well. It shares a lot of characteristics with the Prodigy and while its not quite as small a boat it is rather narrow. Other good points are that they can be rather light (with wood gunwales), they are still in production but have been around for a while so used ones are easy to find.

You are a challenge because of your small size but if you have a chance to get into an Outrage you should jump at it.