Loveletters from Whitehall Spirit® Owners

Dave Stith – An avid Solo 14™ rower for many reasons

“I really enjoy seeing the eddies from my oars as they disappear into the distance. My usual day trips are from 7.5 to
10 miles long with my longest trip to date being 16 miles. The boat handles absolutely great in all kinds of sea conditions and especially with my Border Collie, Nikki, curled up on her cushion just forward of the slide-seat or standing look-out on the bow thwart. I’ve always kept myself fit but I’ve never been more physically fit since I started rowing the Solo 14.”

Maria Rivera – Tango Owner, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

“The Tango has become mine and I wish I could row all day. Today under the blue blue sky I felt like a part of the
universe.”

Rune Selmar- A 240k row in his Solo 14™ from Søgne to Sandefjord in Norway

“Please find enclosed some pictures from my rowing trip this summer. I went for a five day rowing trip from Søgne,
located between Kristiansand S and Mandal in southern Norway to Sandefjord, about 240 kilometers north east of
Søgne. The Solo 14 worked perfectly.”

Douglas Gilmour – Rowing in the Rain on San Francisco Bay’

Doug is an very avid rower and has owned many traditional rowing boat designs and thoroughly tested their individual
qualities. His favourite is the Solo 14™. He says “I can truly appreciate how clean and simple and wonderful the Solo
experience truly is. This coming from someone who’s rowed for 11 years and has six boats including an Annapolis
Wherry that I built myself”.

Adam Kreek – Out with his family and their son’s very first row

Adam is one of the top rowers on the planet, a four time World Rowing Champion, Olympic gold medal winner and
a charter member of the Whitehall Spirit® Rowing club of Victoria.
Here he is out in a Tango 17™ with wife Rebecca and, for his first time rowing, young son Jefferson. Adam owns a
Solo 14™ named “FreedomCrabber” and uses it for exercise and to satisfy his passion for catching crabs.
Adam Kreek and Harold Aune produced the “How to Slide Seat Row” Video featured on this website.

Linda King’s Solo 14™ is “Her Pride and Joy”

“Having fun doesn’t quite adequately convey how much I love this boat! I have been rowing it in
the mornings and it handles waves, swells, wakes and contrary tides so well I am getting more
comfortable in it every time I take it out.”

Dianne Roberts loves “Mussel” her Solo 14™

Heres a quote from one of Dianne’s many adveutures while open water rowing. She lives in Port Townsend WA.
“By the time I got to the middle of the bay, the wind and current picked up—there were steady whitecaps so I think it
was probably 10-12 knots—but by then I was committed so I just kept on going. I eventually tucked in behind Rat Island
and was able to stop long enough to get a drink of water and look at the birds for a few minutes. Then I had to
fight my way across a strong tide rip over the sand bar at the end of the island and back through the chop across the
bay. It took more than 2 hours to cover maybe 8-9 miles. I JUST LOVE THIS BOAT! Not once did I feel unsafe or
worried about swamping.”

Caroline and Janko Jovicevic – Their Solo 14™ anchored in front of their lakeside home in Montenegro

“We are enjoying our Solo 14 every day. On the few days we don’t row, we just enjoy looking at her bobbing on the
water right in front of our window.”

Craig Nelson – Rowing a Solo 14™ on Lake Tahoe, California.

“It is such a good workout and being on the water makes it so enjoyable. As you can see the dogs just love being
out in the boat ..”

John Sayer – 1961 Gold medal Olympian rows Deception Pass and Fidalgo Island waters

John says “This is the boat that I have been looking for thirty years that I can row in salt water, it’s a real rowing boat, it’s got speed and you can pull it up on the beach, it’s unsinkable and that’s why I got one, I love it!”

Kyra Perry – Rowing her Solo 14™ ‘My Sulis’

“My kids love going for rides and even the dog gets to come along…though I’m not sure she’d rather not!”

David Zaharik- Rowing and Towing his Solo 14™

“The Solo 14 towed like a dream! In windless flat seas to 12-foot swells and 30 knots of wind, the Solo tracked absolutely beautifully and never once showed any signs of being swamped or over running the mother vessel! Again I
have to admit that when the wind and the waves kicked up … and they did… the Solo maintained her tack and let
me concentrate on reefing and navigating. The best part of towing the Solo was having her with me to row every
morning. What a wonderful way to spend time while cruising… I rowed so much I ended up with blisters on my
hands and bruises on my bum! THAT is a lot of rowing!”