Wenonah Advantage / C1W opportunity

Two years later, I put on some weight. I didn’t get the Advantage out at all last year. Today I took it out along with an Old Town Pack. My 17 year old Daughter took the Advantage, I took the Pack. We were going through a twisty black water swamp and I know she was not enjoying making a straight-line boat take so many turns. I offered to switch boats with her. I sat down, and the thing rolled right over and dumped me out. I dumped the water out and tried again, and immediately rolled over into the drink. My weight gain combined with the already noted “high seat” was just too much. I’m likely to sell the boat soon. Not complaining about the boat... just leaving this here for those considering it... if you’re 250+ lbs, this might not be the canoe for you.

Magnus919 said:

Two years later, I put on some weight. I didn’t get the Advantage out at all last year.

I sat down, and the thing rolled right over and dumped me out. I dumped the water out and tried again, and immediately rolled over into the drink. My weight gain combined with the already noted “high seat” was just too much. I’m likely to sell the boat soon.

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Magnus, good to see you back on the board. The Advantage is kind of a niche design. Not your niche. Not my niche. But for some folks, just the ticket.

The Advantage is still a desirable canoe in the right hands, and you should have no problem selling it.

https://www.piragis.com/canoes-for-sale/wenonah-canoes/product/60-wenonah-advantage-16-6-canoe

Magnus919 said:

We were going through a twisty black water swamp and I know she was not enjoying making a straight-line boat take so many turns. I offered to switch boats with her.

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Magnus, the Advantage is, as you have found, not a twisty black water river swamp canoe. And if that is your most frequent type of destination there are far more appropriate solo canoe designs. You, like me, are too big to get any “performance” out of an OT Pack. Don’t even.

I am your size, and my favorite black water river canoe is the Mohawk Odyssey. 14’ 2” X 30”, small enough to fit into and around tight spaces. 1.75” of symmetrical rocker and 14” plenty deep. My favorite black water swamper mostly because it is semi flat bottomed, so easy to step out of onto an exposed log and pull the canoe across, float across barely submerged speedbump logs, or deflect off cypress knees. Would probably paddle across a dewy lawn.

Mohawk, based in black water Florida, once had a variety of possible swamper canoes, and they are not unicorns down south.

https://www.mohawkcanoes.com/pages/flat-water-canoe-specs

Or a Mad River Guide, or the descendant hull, the Freedom Solo. My second favorite big-guy solo day tripper in blackwater swamp river. The shallow vee bottom makes bump overs and step out on the log maneuvers a wee bit more of a balancing act, but the Guide/Freedom Solo is a great moving water solo canoe.

Anyone have other make/model suggestions to keep an eye out for in a used, big boy, black water river day tripping canoe? That is quite a niche, but there must be a few more.

I know this is an old thread, but just thought I’d put this out there to help anyone who might be reading this in an attempt to learn more about the Advantage (like maybe thinking about driving 500 miles to buy one at a good price or something!). My guess is that Magnus’s boat is the original version, or possibly even an Advantage XL from ‘83 (by ‘84 it had an adjustable foot brace). Both were more race-oriented designs than the modern Advantage, with the XL being the longer, lower volume, tippier, faster of the two, from what I can glean from the below links. The modern Advantage is a de-tuned version designed to be a better tripping / performance cruiser.



I’ve been paddling a Sawyer DY Special (quite similar to the modern Advantage in how it handles; some say it might be a bit more stable / better for larger paddlers), but now I’m trying to decide whether to buy an ‘84 Advantage XL for a bit livelier, more efficient, sleeker hull. I think I’m going to pull the trigger on it, but it’s a full day’s drive to get it, so I’ll basically be committing to it without getting to try it first. I’m a smaller paddler, and I’m used to skinny racing SUPs and kayaks... I think I’ll be fine, I hope!

I owned and paddled the original Advantage (e.g. what was to become the XL), and it was lots of fun (I was the one that provided the info on the BWCA site). I also paddled the DY a little. If you're used to skinny solos, the XL shouldn't be a problem. I thought it was a well-tempered hull. I ended up buying a WWC1 for the added tripping capacity, and they felt pretty similar in the water. I wouldn't think you'd have a problem. Heck, you might look for a J-boat for merely fitness!

Oh yeah, you can have lots of fun in twisties if you tweak you hips a bit--doesn't take much to really slew the boat around. I recently saw a video of someone paddling a Wenonah Voyager properly--I'll see if I can find it.

Mason said:

I owned and paddled the original Advantage (e.g. what was to become the XL), and it was lots of fun (I was the one that provided the info on the BWCA site). I also paddled the DY a little. If you're used to skinny solos, the XL shouldn't be a problem. I thought it was a well-tempered hull. I ended up buying a WWC1 for the added tripping capacity, and they felt pretty similar in the water. I wouldn't think you'd have a problem. Heck, you might look for a J-boat for merely fitness!

Oh yeah, you can have lots of fun in twisties if you tweak you hips a bit--doesn't take much to really slew the boat around. I recently saw a video of someone paddling a Wenonah Voyager properly--I'll see if I can find it.

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Thanks Mason!

Paddleguy89 said:

I know this is an old thread

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