I posted this on Solotripping but will cross post here as well.

So I just returned from my first solo. After reading and research I really felt drawn to try a SR Tranquility. Couldn't find an outfitter on US side of Quetico so ended up in Atikokan with Doug Chapman at CQO. Side benefit was entering at other than PP and a tour of the SR factory - more on that later. I carried my own BB straight shaft - wide and square end - and a kayak paddle from outfitter.

So I headed to BH access with a Cirrus entry permit and the Tranquility and my gear for 5 nights, never having paddled any solo canoe at all. (I have paddled my SR Q17 solo.) Loaded it up and shoved off. Very slight unsteadiness getting in - which was my greatest concern from the inception of my going solo. So no experience, 6-2, 225 lbs, and two CCS packs - probably 35-40 pound food back and and 40-45 pound Explorer (or Pioneer? - I forget).

First day (September 4) was moderate wind and cloudy. (And about 30 seconds of rain drops - a kind of spritz. I haven't need rain gear for 3 or 4 years) Rest of week was light to no wind, blue skies, sun. Headed east on Cirrus to Sue Falls, across portage to Kasakowog, west to Quetico lake, poked around the bays and pictographs north of Eden, headed to the sandy beach below the Q River to BH, and then poked around some of BH in five days.

I was surprised how fast I thought the Tranquility was - about as fast as the SR Q17 with my son according to my gps - easily between 4 and 4.5 mph with the straight shaft in what I think is called hit and switch, a little over 5 with the kayak paddle - both against a light breeze. Once I had my butt on the seat, I found the Tranquility to be very stable. I could adjust balance by sliding the forward pack to and fro with paddle but soon found a spot and stuck with it for 5 days. It felt more stable crosswise to waves than the Q17 much to my delight. It was narrow enough to be able to paddle easily and comfortably but I do have long arms and a long paddle - 58. In streams and small coves and such it didn't turn quickly but I never felt constrained or unable to maneuver.

I tried the kayak paddle a couple of different times but it was too short. I might try a kayak paddle again but want one of those long BB ones. The removable yoke - just a plain wood yoke with slip pin hinges at either end and no pads - could be improved upon. I am critical of the outfitter for suggesting I didn’t need pads. I’m use to bounding through portages with the Q17 balanced on my shoulders and my hands to my sides for a great deal of the portage but the hard wood was too slippery and “hard”. But the fatal defect of no pads was the interference of the my pack (a CCS food pack - so not too tall) and the thwart behind the yoke. I couldn’t raise the bow to see far ahead and hit rocks on inclines. So, I’m definitely insisting on pads next time, and if I consider a purchase will look at other yoke options. Luckily, I had no serious portages other than Cirrus to Kasakowog - and that’s not terrible.

Overall, I really liked the canoe and felt really comfortable. The bottom isn’t as flat as the Q17 but I got use to it. At the factory, Wayne Docking felt the Q16 was a better solo tripping canoe but that is based on style and preferences - and his were not all the different than mine - liking stability and not in a hurry. The Q16 is definitely slower by all accounts, but what’s the hurry? I don’t fish or photograph seriously so don’t need that extra stability, and the Tranquility is 10 pounds or so lighter than the Q16 - a high priority for me. I think the Tranquility would catch the wind less than a Q16, and especially so with a tonneau cover (or whatever they are called on canoes).

So, I shall try to plan a solo with a Q16 and then see if I’m hooked enough on the solo tripping to warrant purchase. It was easy to buy the tandem - used from an outfitter for about a third of the cost of new and already scratched so now concerns. I think a used solo is much harder to find. Besides, the new blue kevlar that SR has is beautiful!

Which leads me to the SR factory tour. If you can plan a half hour or so in Atikokan on a weekday at one end of a trip, do this. Even if you hate SR canoes, it’s fascinating. Simple, small factory. Wayne Docking - otherwise national sales manager, repairer of canoes and buildings, and retired school teacher/former leader of the Atikokan HS venture program where every student does a two week trip - was my host. I think I met nearly every employee and the owners, Keith and Arlene Robinson. The largest building, a pole barn, is simply storage, and they now hang the canoes like a side of beef on steel “J” hooks on tracks so they can get a lot in and easily get to any canoe. I can only guess maybe several hundred overall, and maybe 50-75 while I was there last week. I guess by spring it will be pretty full. Next stop was where they laid fabric in the molds, squeegeed in the resin, and baked it. (They have the molds made for them from their own hand built wood “plugs”.) This is like two people who together make like two canoes a day - from bolts of kevlar, machined foam for the ribs and floatation tanks, and epoxy resin. Once cured (98% I recall) they move to the other building for thwarts and gunwales and seats and such trim, a little detailing and decals, and a final leak test in a tank. All very simple and hand crafted.

bill, so happy you were able tour the SR factory! we try to stop there every trip to atikokan. wayne, keith and arlene are great people and always willing to accommodate drop-ins, they've even helped with us with some trip routing for parts of quetico.

the "canoe baking oven" is quite interesting, makes me think this is how cremation happens.

Thanks for the review. I would like to make it to the factory sometime.

Thanks, Bill. I also have an SR 17, and I am considering a solo. I was just checking out the specs on the Tranquility last night, so your post was very timely. Looking forward to hearing your comparisons/thoughts on the 16 if you do rent one in the future.

Thanks for the report, Bill. I've never paddled a Tranquility, but I have rented a SR Q16. There was a lot of wind on that trip and it caught most of it. It was just more canoe than I needed, but then I only weigh 150 lbs and my total load is probably less than your weight alone, so it sits up very high on the water for me. I've always liked the Magic for its lower shear line, but am trying a Bell Rockstar this fall for comparison. Sounds like an interesting tour of the factory.

I like the Tranquility too, but didn't feel that it was very fast at all.
We had a larger group and sort of alternated between who used the solo. I had it the first day and found it a bit sluggish after awhile. Tried to get through some milder rapids (Russell, against the current..was a challenge for the tandems that day too but they made it) and couldn't get it to handle well enough - figured it was because I didn't have it trimmed very well. The next day one of the other guys used it...after which someone pointed out that we'd both paddled it backwards! How embarrassing. I remembered not liking the way the yoke was set up, you could feel it against your back at times when paddling. Wished it were removable, didn't realize it was! And I have a solo canoe with a removeable yoke! Just looked a lot different than mine. Anyway, I was all ready to give this boat an unfair review until then!
I still found it a little slow, but from there on out the handling was, of course, a lot better. I also liked fishing from it and it's really light and a dream to portage. And sometimes I'm a dumbass.

Thanks for the review BC, the factory is on my bucket list.

Howard, thanks for the chuckle. Gotta love someone who admits to paddling a canoe backwards for a day :)

I didn't think you could sit backwards but then I had the seat slid back (I think?) so could only sit facing one way. Thwart was about 8" behind seat, removable yoke across the seat. I'd download pictures.

I think paddling speed is relative. I'm not in a hurry so it was a surprise it was so fast for me - at least as fast as the Q17. I know a Q16 will be slower - shorter and wider and flatter bottom - and that may be just the ticket for me. But I like the 10 pounds less of the Tranquility, not to mention since I paddle primarily in the Q, I'd never be far away from where it was "born".

Lisa (ranger at the Pavilion at Dawson's Creek) has a Tranquility with the rudder option and obviously loved it with a yak paddle. Said she could fly with or against or across wind or waves.

I was wondering about wind and the Q16 and wondered how much the tonneau cover would mitigate that, but the fact I didn't roll over (quite) getting in and out of the Tranquility was encouraging.

Plus that blue kevlar is really pretty.

Bill, Thanks for the report on the Tranquility and the tour. I've got to stop at SR my next trip to Atikokan. BTW, I own an SR 16 (bought used from an Ely outfitter) and have paddled it solo and (as you know) used a rented Tranquility this July. IMO, there is NO comparison. The SR 16 is an "okay" solo, but the Tranquility was awesome. My rented Tranquility (Canoe Canada) had a "fixed" seat and a removable portage yoke with nice pads -- a must -- and the Tranquility portaged lighter than I could believe. --Goose