AN EFFICIENT and VERSATILE SOLO CANOE

The Solo Quick is designed for those searching for an all-day cross-over boat. She looks and paddles like a canoe and at the same time, shares characteristics with her narrower kayak brethren. Her narrow beam and fine entry and exit lines ensure paddling efficiency, long glide and good tracking.

Paddlers choosing a double blade will find that she eats up the miles, and those using a single blade will be surprised by her finesse.

Choose This Boat If …

The Solo Quick is an efficient boat designed to track well and carry a modest load. This is the canoe that we recommend for those in need of a cruising boat capable of eating up the miles in protected waters. If you paddle in a swell or current you may find that the Solo Trip or Angler’s Day, both of which have more free-board, are better suited to your paddling needs.

Click Drawings to Expand …
 

 Before You Get Started

Plans from Ashes come complete with all the details necessary to build a canoe but they do not include building instructions. If you are novice builder you will save many hours and benefit immeasurably from purchasing either of the following:

• For Stemless Construction, Building A Strip Canoe, by Gil Gilpatrick
• For Classic Cedar Strip Building,  Canoecraft, by Ted Moore

Materials

Traditional construction calls for 1/4 inch thick cedar strips. 3/4 of an inch is as good a width as any and full length clear stock will make stripping your canoe a whole lot easier. Her gunnels are either a hardwood, or if a builder wishes to reduce weight, laminated softwood strips (two outer and three inner) with an outer hardwood rail shaped to please the builder’s eye. Best results will be obtained if the builder can curtail the urge to use fancy marquetry, or exotic woods. A materials list is included with your plans, as are scaled drawings of the strong-back.

Use Ashes’ Materials Calculator to help determine the number of strips, epoxy, and fiberglass cloth required to build the Quick.

Materials Calculator

 Building Light

A careful builder may wish to reduce the weight of their canoe by starting with 3/16 inch cedar strips. Remember that you’ll have less material to start with and without experience it’s easy to sand too far! Other options for builders hoping to keep her light are to laminate the gunnels directly to the hull and use mechanical fasteners only in the ends and at the thwart. Likewise, her seat can be attached to cleats glued and glassed to the inside of the hull, thus reducing the need for hangers and associated hardware.

For a precise estimate of your canoe’s final weight use Ashes’ Weight Calculator which provides results based on materials choices and building decisions.

Weight Calculator

Stations

Unless marked otherwise stations are laid out with the centre station placed in the middle of strongback, and each one thereafter is spaced at 12 inches on centre from the previous. At Ashes we cut our stations from 3/4 MDF. The bow and stern stations are trimmed for stemless construction, an easy and elegant construction method that contributes to her minimalist lines. Plans have the outer stem profiles marked for those wishing to use hardwood stems.

Fibrerglass

The industry standard calls for 6 oz cloth. Builders wishing to match our advertised weights will start with 4 oz glass inside and out with a reinforcing layer laid inside and out in her middle third (on the bias). Likewise, her ends are reinforced both inside and out with two extra layers of 4 oz glass, 6 inches wide and also laid on the bias.

Printing Your Plans