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Swift Keewaydin 18.6 vs. Wenonah Minnesota II

Joined
Apr 11, 2022
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Location
Eureka, Montana
Hi,
We are ready to purchase a new canoe and wondered if anyone here has had any experience with the Swift Keewaydin 18.6 compared to the Wenonah Minnesota II.
Where we live there are no dealers near us anymore. Many years ago we tested a Wenonah Minnesota II, Spirit II, Champlain and Itasca along with a Bell Northwoods. Unfortunately we only had a small pond to test the Minnesota II and a very small calm place on a river to test the Northwoods. The Champlain and Spirit II were stable but just didn’t have the feel or speed we were looking for. We ended up buying the Itasca and really liked it! It was very seaworthy in large waves and wind especially when loaded and yet was pretty fast and had a good glide. We had to sell it due to a temporary move. The reason we are thinking of other options now is to reduce the weight for portages.
We really don’t want to get a canoe with less speed/glide and don’t want to give up too much of the seaworthiness either.
Has anyone owned or paddled any of these canoes and if so what were your thoughts?
Speed, glide, initial and secondary stability, handling in rough water/wind and overall quality?
I have heard that the Keewaydin and Northwind are both Yost designs and looking at the specifications they appear to be very similar. Has anyone paddled both? Do they feel any different? We recently tested the Northwind 17 and felt like it took more effort and didn't glide as well as we remember our Itasca did or the MN II.
The closest Swift dealer to us is in Wisconsin. That would be a long drive for sure. (we live in Montana)
Any thoughts or experience would be greatly appreciated!
 
Welcome to site membership, CanoeNorth!

I don't have any personal experience with these canoes, but hopefully someone here does. I'm sure you have compared the specs. The Keewaydin 18.6 seems to have a little more depth, a little more rocker and a little narrower waterline than the Minnesota II, but I can't mentally translate that into performance differences for canoes that large.

What I do know is that the Minnesota II has been around longer and has a very good reputation as a large Boundary Waters wilderness canoe. I don't mean by that anything negative about the Keewaydin 18.6, just that I haven't heard much about it.

You might try calling Piragis Northwoods Company, which has lots of experience renting and selling Wenonah canoes as well as Ted Bell canoes, and which seems to have used Minnesota II's and Northstar Northwind 17's and 18's for sale, and ask for their comparative opinions.

 
FYI there's a Wenonah and Northstar dealer in Bozeman. Haven't seen a Min 2 there, but I don't go in very often.
 
Welcome to site membership, CanoeNorth!

I don't have any personal experience with these canoes, but hopefully someone here does. I'm sure you have compared the specs. The Keewaydin 18.6 seems to have a little more depth, a little more rocker and a little narrower waterline than the Minnesota II, but I can't mentally translate that into performance differences for canoes that large.

What I do know is that the Minnesota II has been around longer and has a very good reputation as a large Boundary Waters wilderness canoe. I don't mean by that anything negative about the Keewaydin 18.6, just that I haven't heard much about it.

You might try calling Piragis Northwoods Company, which has lots of experience renting and selling Wenonah canoes as well as Ted Bell canoes, and which seems to have used Minnesota II's and Northstar Northwind 17's and 18's for sale, and ask for their comparative opinions.

Thanks for your reply and welcome!
I did call Piragis Northwoods a while ago and talked to them a about the Northstar and Wenonah. They were very helpful. It's hard to find anyone with experience in a Swift out here. I know I would have an opinion if I could paddle them all but that would mean a long drive.;)
 
FYI there's a Wenonah and Northstar dealer in Bozeman. Haven't seen a Min 2 there, but I don't go in very often.
I did call them too but unfortunately they didn't have the models we are interested in. They were more geared towards river travel. There is another dealer in Missoula where we bought our Wenonah years ago, but they also don't have the models we are looking at and don't let you demo new boats anymore. :(
 
I own a Minn II and love it, never paddled a Swift. I was just on their web site and don't see options for seating or foot braces. I personally like sliding bucket seats and foot braces in a "performance touring" canoe.
 
I also have. a Minn II, have seen the Keewaydin a few times but have never paddled one. I can tell you that the Minn II is probably the most common C2 to be paddled during the Adirondack 90 mile canoe race for many years. I have also seen it as commonly paddled on the Yukon River Races.
 
Rutabaga paddlesports in Madison, Wisconsin carry’s Swift, Wenonah, and Northstar canoes……you might reach out to them….

Mike
 
Have you considered Clipper? They seem to have several dealers in Alberta, maybe not super close but closer than Wisconsin. The Whitewater II has similar ancestry to the Minn II and would have the sort of glide you're used to (but more freeboard). Or pack light and get a Jensen 18.
 
Thanks everyone for your responses! Swift does offer an option for a bow slider seat and a foot brace. Funny thing is we had both in our Itasca and used the slider seat but I only tried the foot brace once and then took it back out.
I have talked to some of the folks at Rutabaga. We had even thought about driving back there to test some boats but not sure now with fuel prices the way they are. I got different feedback depending on who I talked to and was told that the Northwind and Keewaydin were almost the same; but the specs are a little different so I would think there may be a difference in how they perform. They do have Swift demos we could try but not the MN II. They haven't started test paddling for the season yet. I guess they wait 'till the water is warmer there.
I have searched all over Youtube for video clips and have found a few of the MN II and shorter Keewaydins but none of the 18.6.
I should mention also that most of our paddling is on larger lakes which is why efficiency is important to us. Lots of miles to cover.:)
Thanks again!
 
Have you considered Clipper? They seem to have several dealers in Alberta, maybe not super close but closer than Wisconsin. The Whitewater II has similar ancestry to the Minn II and would have the sort of glide you're used to (but more freeboard). Or pack light and get a Jensen 18.
Yes, There are a lot more of those out west, especially in B.C. My friend has one and likes it. I think they are good canoes for sure but they weigh considerably more than the others we are looking at which is the only reason I didn't list them. A few years back on the Bowron I saw lots of them!
 
Yes, There are a lot more of those out west, especially in B.C. My friend has one and likes it. I think they are good canoes for sure but they weigh considerably more than the others we are looking at which is the only reason I didn't list them. A few years back on the Bowron I saw lots of them!
Yeah, from my experience they are heavier than Wenonahs. Another option is Hellman Canoes in Nelson, BC. I don't think he has anything as fast as a Min/WW 2 though. The shop is on Kootenay Lake, so you'd have lots of opportunity to try what he has. https://hellmancanoes.com/
 
Interesting that you mentioned Hellman. We almost stopped by their place a few years back when heading home from a canoe trip in northern B.C. It looks like they have a lot more different models than they did back then!
 
I know what I'd do if I was in your situation. I'd watch canoe sale listings in Minneapolis and upper Minnesota and when a decent deal for a MInn 2 came up (won't take long, there are lots of them there) I'd buy it and drive to Minnesota to pick it up. And while I was there I'd take that new to me canoe on a little trip in the north woods.

Alan
 
I know what I'd do if I was in your situation. I'd watch canoe sale listings in Minneapolis and upper Minnesota and when a decent deal for a MInn 2 came up (won't take long, there are lots of them there) I'd buy it and drive to Minnesota to pick it up. And while I was there I'd take that new to me canoe on a little trip in the north woods.

Alan
It wouldn't be hard to persuade us into that! That seems to be canoe country for sure.
 
Boundary waters outfitters are always selling canoes too and they have lots of Minn 2's in their fleets. Maybe the wrong time of year for that though, they usually unload in the fall but I bet there are still some for sale.

Alan
 
Have a MN2 and like it a lot. Wife is not a canoe person but she really likes it. We tried out the 18' North star and the Savage Susquehanna recently and wife still wants the MN2 over the others so that's what we have. (I like the Savage but can't see spending the extra $ for our simple day trips).
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I never heard of Savage River out here. I just looked them up and they sound pretty nice.
Mnoutdoorfunguy...Have you paddled the Muskoka? Is it about the same speed as the MN II?
kbobb...Did you feel like the Susquehanna was faster than the MN II? What about stability?
As always thanks again for all the suggestions!
 
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