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By Tamia Nelson September 27, 2005
Two's company, right? But we all like a bit of a
change every now and then. So if your old tandem canoe is
showing its age, maybe you're thinking about replacing it with
a double kayak. The choices don't stop there, of course. You don't
necessarily have to be in the same boat, do you? Maybe you and your partner are
wondering if it isn't time to give each other a little more space. If so, you're
already weighing the merits of going it alone, even as you stay together. Sound
complicated? It is, and for lifelong tandemistas it's not always an easy
decision. Still, a systematic approach often helps to navigate through the
shoal waters of conflicting choices. Let's begin by tallying up the…
Benefits of Going Solo
The most obvious advantage? Independence. In a solo boat, you get to do your
own thing. Suppose you've been planning a weekend
getaway for several months now. Then, right at the last minute, your partner
learns he has to work. Yes, you could go it alone in your big tandem. It
might not be much fun, however, particularly if the wind looks like blowing up
into half a gale or the portages loom long. But solo boats are something else.
If you have the necessary skill and judgment to travel alone in the
backcountry, your weekend trip is still on. Your partner will probably envy
you, but he'll get over it. He knows his turn will come, after all.
Then again, maybe neither of you ever has to work weekends, but you each like
to chart your own course, at least occasionally. In a solo boat, you don't need
to hold a committee meeting before changing direction. Suppose your partner
likes to ride the big
rollers in the middle of the lake,
while you'd rather glide along near shore, listening to the
birds. No problem. Or say that one of you wants to fish the pools while the
other wants to play the drops. If you're in the same boat, you can't do both. At
least you can't do both at the same time. But if you're going solo, it's a piece
of cake. In a solo boat there's only one captain on the bridge. The rewards of
command — and the burdens — are yours and yours alone. Of course,
there are plenty of times when you don't want to be all by yourself, aren't
there? When things go
wrong, for example. No sweat. This is one case where you can eat your
cake and have it, too. If you and a partner go solo together, help is always at
hand, even though there are only two of you. And that can be a Very Good
Thing.
Let's get back to the subject of burdens for a minute. Is life weighing you
down lately? Then go solo. Everything else being equal, solo boats are lighter
than their tandem counterparts. Portaging is
easier, as is lifting your boat onto your car rack or storage
cradle. And solo boats are (usually) shorter, too. If space is hard to come
by where you live, this is good news indeed. It also helps if you think outside
the box. I once used an upturned pack canoe as a coffee table. It made a pretty
crappy table, I admit, but at least I always knew where it was.
OK. You know what's coming next, I'm sure. Partners go solo for many good
reasons, but there are also good reasons for staying in the same boat. So before
you make your decision, let's look at…
The Downside of Going It Alone
Paddling partners aren't clones. One will be stronger. The other, bolder. One
may have better boat-control skills, while the other has a keener eye for
finding the best line through a tricky drop. But if you're in the same boat and
you've learned to work together, you're in luck. You're not just two paddlers.
You're a team, and a team is always more competent than any individual member.
This is particularly important when one partner is just starting out. A novice
in a solo boat faces a steep learning curve, and the price for failure can be
high. It's hard to have fun when you're exhausted, afraid, or frustrated. Going
it alone makes all of these things more likely, and in a solo boat you're always
on your own, even if your partner is only two boat-lengths away. When the going
gets tough, it can be terribly lonely on the bridge. Think about it.
Most of us are social animals, too, at least some of the time, and solo boats
don't lend themselves to taking company along for the ride. True, many solo
boats will accommodate a passenger — a child or small adult, for instance,
or a well-trained dog — but there's always a price to be paid. Your light
and lively craft will now be ponderous and heavy. You may even find that
paddling seems more like work than recreation. And that's not all. What if your
partner is injured or becomes ill while you're deep in the backcountry? It
doesn't happen often, to be sure, but when it does, it can pose a real challenge
for a couple of paddlers who are traveling alone, albeit together. At best, it
means leaving a lot of your gear behind. At worst, it can make a bad situation
desperate. A solo boat makes a mighty poor ambulance, after all.
Speaking of the gear you may someday have to leave behind, don't forget that
two solo boats will almost always cost more than a tandem of similar quality.
The extra costs don't stop there, either. You'll need two of everything, from
sets of float bags to
repair kits.
All this gear has to be muscled over the portages, too. Even if your boat weighs
less than your old tandem, your total load will probably be greater. That's
bound to take some of the spring out of your step on the trail. And what happens
when you get back home? If you and your partner share an apartment or small
house, remember that two solo boats won't necessarily be easier to store than
one tandem. There really is no such thing as a free lunch.
This isn't straightforward, is it? And it's about to get worse. Going solo
entails another, contingent choice:
Solo boats can be either. It's a familiar
dilemma. It's also one we've touched on
recently, but if you're in a hurry, here's an executive summary. (WARNING!
Like all summaries, this one leaves out a lot. To get the whole story, see the
highlighted articles.)
Canoes are…
+ Versatile
- Easily swamped While kayaks are…
+ Seaworthy
- Cramped Confused? Don't be. A solo boat is just a hole in the
water. If the hole has a deck it's usually called a kayak. If it doesn't,
it's called a canoe, at least on this
side of the Pond. There are good and bad boats of both types, but even a bad
boat is better than no boat at all. The shape and size of the hole in the water
is what matters most. Everything else is secondary. Canoe or kayak? Choose what
makes you and your partner happy. Or choose…
One of Each
This works for some couples, but it isn't for everyone. As the summary above
suggests, canoes and kayaks have different personalities. The canoeist
struggling to keep up with his kayaking partner as she powers across a windswept
lake may have very good reason to curse his choice. (But wait till they
come to a tall beaver dam on a small stream. Then it will be the kayaker's
turn to curse.) Still, many "mixed marriages" turn out just fine. If the boat
suits the paddler, that's what counts. And what if you're having trouble finding
just what you want? Then there are…
Other Choices
Sit-on-tops,
for one. Folding boats,
for another. And don't forget inflatables.
SOTs are probably at their best as beach cruisers and platforms for wildlife
watching or fishing, but folders and inflatables can be perfect choices for
adventurous apartment dwellers, boaters with lots of frequent-flyer miles, and
amphibious
paddlers. What's an "amphibious paddler"? Just someone who likes to combine the
pleasures of bicycling and paddling, while leaving the melancholy
faces at the gas pumps behind him, if only for the weekend.
Two's company, but everybody needs a bit of space. That's where solo boats
come in. In single-seaters, you can have both solitude and society. It's not for
everyone, but for "them as likes it," there's simply no better way to travel
than going it alone, together.
Copyright © 2005 by Verloren Hoop Productions. All rights
reserved.
Going It Alone, Together
The Case for (and Against) the Solo Boat
tamia@paddling.net
+ Easy to load and unload
+ Easy to get into and out of
+ Simple to portage
+ Roomy
+ Cheap
- Pretty good wind vanes
- Uncomfortable (for some paddlers, at least)
+ Comfortable (for most paddlers)
+ Sporty
- Hard to load and unload
- Awkward to get into and out of
- Difficult to portage
- Costly
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