My Chessie and I have outgrown my Wen. Wilderness for longer solo trips and I would like to use my Boundary Waters for solo by paddling reverse from the front seat, using a double paddle. I want to put my gear pack just in front of the middle thwart and then remove the front seat for the dog to ride ahead of the now bow thwart. Does the seat have a structural function that I will have to somehow replace, or are we ok with just removing the seat. (A new canoe is not an option!) This should come close to a decent trim and keep Cupcake close to the front. The closer she stays to centerline the less influence she has on tipping and she likes to be out ahead anyway. Thanks for the help, Sunnybear Edit.--it is a kevlar flex-core layup.

I got the pleasure of usin my newly acquired wenonah boundary waters with my 10 year old son as a front seat paddlers this year. For purposes of trimming the canoe I turned it around backwards and had our packs in front of the yoke. I could keep everything trimmed up pretty well and adjusting for head wind or tail wind wasn't at all a problem. The problem is that the boundary waters is the family truckster of the wenonah line, when it's loaded it is big long wide smooth ride.

When we got out on the water for the start of our 10 day trip plans changed daily depending on the wind. My son at 10 is a pretty good paddler but we could not go into the wind or much of a crosswind. I guess in the end it will work but you need to realize that you plans may have to change. Having done this I would say that as a solo there are better options. One thing that helped me out was adding more weight when we had a crosswind. On one windy day I actually took a full pack out of one of the other boats so we would set lower in the water, it really helped but not something even possible going solo.

If these are going to be shorter solo trips I think you will manage but if these are long hauls I think there would have to be a better option. I do not have extensive experience with many boats but I have been paddling canoes for 20 plus years. Let us know what you decide to do.

no too familiar with the Boundary waters model. From the looks of it in the catalog the stern seat is not the main stability factor, the thwart in front of it would seem to be the main strength of that part of the canoe. Being that it is a flex-core layup, I would think that you could do your own test on a local lake without hurting it too much. if it were Kevlar I would hesitate on testing it, but I think the Flex-core is more forgiving.

for added trim I use a 20+L dry bag that I fill with water and then tie/attach to the front carrying handle in the canoe. at 2+ lbs per liter you can add alot of weight at almost the tip of the boat. Helps tremendously.

good luck & good paddling.

Instead of pulling seats and relocating thwarts why not try a removable seat.
See how your Boundary Waters works out solo, before committing to modification.

butthead

I don't think he is planning on making any modifications other than taking out the seat. The "bow" thwart is only up front because he would be paddling backwards.

As far as removing the seat, I think in the water you would have no problems but you may want that added rigidity while portaging.