Anyone have any experience to share about how manageable a tandem 13' sot is when going solo? One I'm looking at has molded in seat backs and seems like the rear seat is too far back and the front too far forward to be able to control paddling. Either front heavy or back heavy.

I have a cobra tandem with molded seats and have paddled it solo. Sitting in the back seat, the bow is high but I can paddle fine in calm water. The cobra has a hatch in front of the rear seat that I can scoot up and sit on if I need to - or I could install a few extra pad eyes and rig my seat forward a bit. Something heavy like a cooler strapped into the front seat area is an option, too. Last time I took it out I was with a buddy who had a Pelican single person sot and I was much faster in my cobra tandem.

I have 2 other single man yaks so I rarely paddle the tandem solo. It's not preferable but it's more than do-able.

btw - when considering your options, plan on paddling from the backseat vs the front seat. It's much easier to steer from the back seat.

Thanks Squidly very helpful info. Was thinkin some weight up front might keep the bow down some. This would be our first yak and thought the wife or grandkids might want to go out once in a while with me at our lake house so a tandem kinda made sense if it was also usable solo. Welcome to the forum