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ozarkpaddler
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Definitely the Northwind! Love that boat, my favorite tandem. Penob is a bit more "Skittish" feeling to me. The Northwind has incredible secondary stability. I had an episode where my wife dug her paddle into the water into a strong eddy and was literally pulled out of the canoe. Sounds incredible, but I have 2 witnesses, one who was my buddy's grandaughter sitting amidships. Shipped a little water, but otherwise unscathed.
I have tried it with a seat located at the thwart area, then loaded bow heavy. I have a friend who now paddles the boat and he added a center seat just aft of the yoke. Another friend had a Northwind and kneeled at the kneeling thwart he added behind the yoke. So, 3 folks I know that soloed it successfully. I betcha the Penob would SOLO a bit better, but the Northwind is definitely the better hull. You can solo it, day trip it, and load it down for a week. I have to work this weekend, but would happily answer questions about the boat Monday. Here's a few Northwind pics, including the first one of my friend in TX soloed from the thwart (green boat), me soloing, friend soloing, my "Dual" seat position, and tandem.
    
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BWPaddler
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Ask Ozarkpaddler this question (email him)... I should dig through my emails but I think he's done the extra seat in that Bell before...?
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The Lorax
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quote mwd1976: "Both are good all around canoes. I can't really comment on the penobscot, but thought the rx northwind was a fine all around boat.
I will say one thing though, if you ever plan to turn around in the bow seat and paddle solo backwards, the northwind won't really work for that as it is an asymmetrical design with skegged stern.
The penobscot is a symmetrical design and people solo penobs backwards all the time ."
I've taken mine on solo trips. It works great.
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Drab
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Still looking for a used Penobscot 16, but in the mean time I have found a pretty good deal on a Royalex Bell Northwind. I wonder if anyone has paddled both and could give me an idea of how they compare based on paddling impression.
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mwd1976
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Both are good all around canoes. I can't really comment on the penobscot, but thought the rx northwind was a fine all around boat.
I will say one thing though, if you ever plan to turn around in the bow seat and paddle solo backwards, the northwind won't really work for that as it is an asymmetrical design with skegged stern.
The penobscot is a symmetrical design and people solo penobs backwards all the time .
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Drab
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Yeah, I realized that.
I figured with the Northwind I would have to put in a third seat. That should be doable, though, right?
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BearBrown
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Penob 16 on cl in Mn right now
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Drab
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So maybe it is not as doable as I thought.
I guess I'll see if I can try it out first. Or just keep on keeping an eye out for the Penobscot to come up.
One came up on Craigslist in Alabama (just barely in my 5 hour driving limit) It was garage kept, looked in great shape from the pictures, came with two paddles. $350. Of course it was gone by the time I was free enough to call.
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mwd1976
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quote Drab: "Yeah, I realized that.
I figured with the Northwind I would have to put in a third seat. That should be doable, though, right?"
The Northwind is pretty wide to be paddling solo from a middle seat. I'm sure people have done it, but it'd be pretty tough to get a good vertical paddle stroke.
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Drab
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Yeah, I saw that. Thanks
I live in Southern Illinois, near St. Louis. I'm already working to get one canoe that I bought up from Florida. I decided I'm not going to keep looking more locally (say within 4 - 5 hours) for the second boat.
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K2
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Drab,
I have been looking around for a Northwind in royalex. If you are not interested in that boat I sure would be interested in the info on it. Not trying to steal a deal you have already found but if you do not want it, I might. On a side note I have seen some of your posts looking around for various canoes. If I could find a Northwind in royalex I have a boat I would sell that might fit your needs. It is a Swift Algonquin bought last year and made one trip up to Quetico. Great boat I just do not think the Kevlar is the best choice for me as I have a local river right behind my house that gets pretty shallow and rocky and I do not want to take the Kevlar boat in it and I home more often than Quetico. I live just about 35 minutes south of Indianapolis.
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