I am having trouble finding another person for our group trip July 1-10 so I am considering renting a solo canoe or a kayak. Any thoughts.....

Canoe. A Kayak will be hard to portage and even harder to get your gear into. I'd recommend renting an true solo canoe as a tandem will catch more wind and be harder to control by yourself.

Solo Canoe!

Solo, paddles easily like a kayak, easy to portage, and hauls gear well. You can rent a few different models to find the right one for you.

Thanks everyone. That was my concern the ease of paddling I guess I'm just a little intimidated having never been a solo canoe before.

Canoe!

If you have the oppertunity to "practice" soloing before hand, do it... on a windy day... with a load!

Hex

P.S.
Two tricks:
1 Make sure your load is centered and even in the boat.
2 If you need better control in the wind, put some weight in the bow.... like a rock.

Definately a solo canoe. I just paddled one for the first time last week & loved it. I got fairly used to it right away. I had my canoe pretty loaded so it definately helped with wind issues.

Thanks Trix it sounds like you had a good trip yourself!

I’ve done it both ways and each has its own advantage and disadvantage. A canoe is a lot more convenient for portaging and fishing. A kayak shines in bad weather and rough water. I usually go with the canoe, but my last trip where I spent the better part of it wind-bound I was wishing for a kayak.

This raises a question I've always had. I'd like to know what people think of the Bell Rob Roy - sort of a hybrid gig?

Canoe.

I'd also vote canoe for the reasons already stated. In addition, if you're not comfortable with a single-blade, many people paddle solo canoes with a long kayak paddle.

However, you mentioned it's a group trip. Assuming you'll be with others in a tandem canoe, you could probably pack a minimal amount of gear in the kayak if there's room in your trip mates' canoe for your pack. Pair that with a kayak yoke and you eliminate many of the issues with using a yak in the BWCA. Most of the outfitters should be able to hook you up with a yoke. I haven't portaged a kayak with one of these yokes, but others have posted on here that they've done it with little/no problem.

"This raises a question I've always had. I'd like to know what people think of the Bell Rob Roy - sort of a hybrid gig?"

Some people like the Rob Roy. I want to like it, but I can't say that I do. My issue is sitting on the floor. It's too hard for me to get out of it.

The other issue is the hard top. The Rob Roy 15 has some room behind the seat for a pack, but you have to pack small. I used to own a Wee Lassie II (a larger wee lassie). It, too, was a sit-on-the-floor-paddle-with-a-double-blade-paddle canoe. It, however, had an open top which allowed for more gear and easiler pack loading/unloading.

I never had a cover for it, but a cover would have made it very similar to a Rob Roy with the advantages of both the open and closed top. A sort of convertable. :)

Personally I'd opt for a canoe with a cover and paddle it with a double blade instead of the Rob Roy, but that's just a personal thing.

Great question that is the one i was looking at using!

I don't know what happened there. It wasn't going through & I kept trying to submit it & I thought it wasn't. Apparently it did several times. Sorry. (Or maybe I was just trying to get my point across?) Again, sorry for repeating myself.

CountyMedic: Where are you going in at? Is there an outfitter that you are using? If so, I would see what options they have or may suggest. I rented A Wenonah vagabond from Sawbill Outfitters & loved it! They also had the Wenonah prism but I was glad I went with the Vagabond. Alot shorter in length & was easy to paddle & portage. Alot of people do use the prism tho. Not that I am an expert at all. But I had the same concerns you have before I went solo.

Trix Do those posts count for trees?

Trix Do those posts count for trees?

Trix Do those posts count for trees?

heavycanoe: Hope so, and if that is the case, I meant to repeat myself over & over again.

Thanks to everyone for all the great input. Problem solved The member of are party that backed out jumped back in. I am very glad 16 y/o who wants to get into conservation and never been to the bwca should be a great trip for him. The bad news now I get to carry a 78 lbs alum now:( I did it last year from ep 30 to Adams and back and I survived and we are only going to insula this year and he can help carry it! We will be there July 1-9 basing in Insula. Is there a secret bwca.com hand shake I should know about??

You know, the outfitters rent kevlar tandems too :)

Ya but the alum is free! Plus I have the strong back of a 16 y/o to share the load!