A solo boat is set up for one person to sit in pretty much one location, give or take a possible few inches of a sliding seat but the Cruiser might be set up with a fixed seat location like the some of the Keewaydins where you can switch the seat between single blade/kneeling height and double blade/sitting height. 

Kids and people in general tend to come in 2 sizes for canoeing - too small and light so they don't provide much weight for the volume they take up, or too big and heavy so they provide a lot of weight for the volume they take up. In a tandem boat with a 9 year old or younger you help to offset the small and light by paddling a symmetrical canoe using the bow seat for the stern. With a 12 year old or older you get more use out of a sliding bow seat.

You also have more flexibility in moving gear around to balance the boat in a tandem boat. With a solo boat where the one and only designed paddling position is the middle, you are stuck with putting the kid either in front of center or behind and your giving up a lot of your flexibility on how you position the other gear to balance out. 

Overall I think you are very likely to end up either bow or stern heavy trying to use a solo boat as a tandem. 

Perhaps in the interest of full disclosure I should also mention that my dream solo boat is still an Osprey. I can see some attraction in a Keewaydin but the Cruiser is too long and doesn't have enough rocker for me. Interestingly the Cruiser is actually 1/2" wider at the waterline than the Osprey and 1" wider than the Keewaydin. 

ShawnD wrote:

Your search is over Bob !!

This just popped up on my Kijjiji search page.

- Kayak/Canoe Hybrid Exactly what you are looking for !!!

- Very reasonably priced

- Looks like it would be a dream on the portages ;-)

- Best of all. It’s VINTAGE


https://www.kijiji.ca/v-water-sport/hamilton/canoe-kayak-15-foot-vintage-with-wood-ribs/1326007040?utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_ios&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ios_social

Just needs some green paint
 

Last edited by R2 (4/23/2019 7:12 pm)

Rob: thanks for the detailed reply - I appreciate it. As a kayaker I’m already used to having my gear spread out but yeah, not ideal to be pulling my pack apart for balance reasons when I wouldn’t have to otherwise.

The trouble with asking for opinions is that even experienced campers are going to have twenty different ones, especially about something as personal as the boat you paddle. 

I really appreciate all the feedback in this thread. I still have no idea what I'm going to end up buying, but I'll be test paddling everything I can this season to figure it out, then likely going to the outdoor adventure show to get a good deal next February. 

Thanks folks!

It’s okay Martin - I long ago came to understand that you’re a closeted kayaker. You desperately want to come out but just aren’t... quite... ready. And so until the day you’re ready, you’ll slag kayaks at every opportunity.

On behalf of the kayak camping community, we’ll be here for you when you're finally break free of your canormative constraints.

Last edited by Uppa (4/26/2019 1:03 pm)

Well yeah, that's the impact of peer pressure when everyone does something the same way. It's easy to start thinking that's the only way you can be, and it takes courage to step out of the mold. 

I believe in you Martin - you'll get there. 

Last edited by MartinG (4/26/2019 1:11 pm)

In Pedalos

Last edited by MartinG (4/26/2019 1:02 pm)