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Wenonah WW1 ...?

CaptainOllieWest

CaptainOllieWest

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This is posted on marketplace locally. It looks like maybe a WW1? Anybody have experience or information on these?
 
Yes, a WWC-1. I've had one since 1983. It's a deep, fast solo. They changed it a bit the next year or so, to 16'6". I love the boat, but I
'm a fast boat guy. I've taken it on weeklong trips and whitewater.C1F.JPGC1W_2.JPG
 
I've had a couple of those. If I recall one was built in the late 70' and the other in the early 80's. They were both 16' if I remember correctly. On one of them I removed the gunwales and trimmed the shear down before re-installing them. I liked that much better. I also had a Magic at the time and the Jensen was just a shade faster (I was into racing at the time as well).

They were cheap and fun to play around with. I used them for fitness paddling and used them on our slow and flat river often.

Alan
 
Well, it's a race boat, so it's narrow. I love mine, but I've always had fast, tippy boats. It is definitely a sit and switch boat, though with the narrow seat you can kneel around it for challenging conditions. It will take some getting used to, as will all dedicated solo canoes for new users. Both my daughter and her mother started solo canoes with one, and they're fine with it. There is a learning curve however. I probably wouldn't recommend it as a first solo unless you're willing to work on technique. The price is sure right so if it's not rotten from UV exposure it's almost a no-brainer. Once you get used to it it's an excellent boat. I'd forget about gunnel-dipping freestyle maneuvers though (and bow eddy turns).
 
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Mason said:
Well, it's a race boat, so it's narrow. I love mine, but I've always had fast, tippy boats. It is definitely a sit and switch boat, though with the narrow seat you can kneel around it for challenging conditions. It will take some getting used to, as will all dedicated solo canoes for new users. Both my daughter and her mother started solo canoes with one, and they're fine with it. There is a learning curve however. I probably wouldn't recommend it as a first solo unless you're willing to work on technique. The price is sure right so if it's not rotten from UV exposure it's almost a no-brainer. Once you get used to it it's an excellent boat. I'd forget about gunnel-dipping freestyle maneuvers though (and bow eddy turns).
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Thank you for the information!
 
I took my 30 pound dog in mine quite often. I've catfished from it too.

I'm used to narrow solo hulls but i don't think it would be a bad one to start with. Stability felt on par with my magic.

Alan
 
Alan Gage said:
I took my 30 pound dog in mine quite often. I've catfished from it too.

I'm used to narrow solo hulls but i don't think it would be a bad one to start with. Stability felt on par with my magic.

Alan
Click to expand...
Thanks Allen. I may have to buy this thing. I didn't think it would last this long on the face page.
 
I live in the rural midwest where pretty much everyone paddles aluminum tandems. I'd never seen a canoe locally that I was interested in, even if it wasn't for sale at the time.

An older fella who knew I liked canoeing said he had a canoe in the rafters of his shed. It had belonged to a friend that was going to use it for duck hunting but the friend capsized about 5' away from the boat ramp and swore he'd never get into it again. That piqued my interest a little.

I went to his house to have a look at it and it was still way up in the rafters. It looked like a fast solo design but it had been painted (poorly) camo and had a huge rip in the side that had been poorly patched with resin drips running down the side. He only wanted $100 and I couldn't pass it up. I still had no idea what it was.

Here in Iowa canoes have to be registered so when he signed the registration and handed it to me my heart skipped a little when it said "Jensen" under the model.

I think you definitely need to buy this boat. There just isn't any way to go wrong....unless you capsize and drown. So just don't do that.

Here's one of the only pics I could find of mine alongside some other boats.

Prospector by Alan, on Flickr

Alan
 
Alan Gage said:
I live in the rural midwest where pretty much everyone paddles aluminum tandems. I'd never seen a canoe locally that I was interested in, even if it wasn't for sale at the time.

An older fella who knew I liked canoeing said he had a canoe in the rafters of his shed. It had belonged to a friend that was going to use it for duck hunting but the friend capsized about 5' away from the boat ramp and swore he'd never get into it again. That piqued my interest a little.

I went to his house to have a look at it and it was still way up in the rafters. It looked like a fast solo design but it had been painted (poorly) camo and had a huge rip in the side that had been poorly patched with resin drips running down the side. He only wanted $100 and I couldn't pass it up. I still had no idea what it was.

Here in Iowa canoes have to be registered so when he signed the registration and handed it to me my heart skipped a little when it said "Jensen" under the model.

I think you definitely need to buy this boat. There just isn't any way to go wrong....unless you capsize and drown. So just don't do that.

Here's one of the only pics I could find of mine alongside some other boats.

Prospector by Alan, on Flickr

Alan
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I hope you painted it!

Edit: actually it is kind of cool. It tells the story of the canoe.
 
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Here are a few pictures from the seller. Some pretty rough patches.

The canoe is about 1.5 hours from me. I am not sure I can make it out there for a few days.
 

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That canoe looks like a perfect first solo: Cheap and effective. The patches look about as good as the ones mine had.

Alan
 
I picked it up this morning. The seller brought it to work with him so it was only about a 20 minute drive.
It is pretty much what I expected for the price. It has some gelcoat cracking, the patches on the keels are rough etc.
The seller only used it a couple of times. His first trip out he and his wife capsized and she wouldn't get back in it.

20240327_102139.jpg
 
Enjoy! It's a fun boat. I've done everything from racing, to tripping, gunkholing, and significant whitewater in it. I think my daughter is going to set me adrift in mine in my final hours.
 
Sweeet!

I personally did not like the super deep depth of the factory setup but I also didn't give it a lot of time to get used to it. . I had no experience working on boats at the time but removing the gunwales, cutting the shear down with a jigsaw, and then re-riveting them back on was pretty easy and , to me, made it a much more enjoyable hull to paddle.

Alan
 
Is that Kevlar or fiberglass? I can't tell from the pics.

If it's Kevlar that will probably make it harder to trim the sheer line.

Alan
 
Alan Gage said:
Sweeet!

I personally did not like the super deep depth of the factory setup but I also didn't give it a lot of time to get used to it. . I had no experience working on boats at the time but removing the gunwales, cutting the shear down with a jigsaw, and then re-riveting them back on was pretty easy and , to me, made it a much more enjoyable hull to paddle.

Alan
Click to expand...
Yes, it is a DEEP boat. I have (not so fond) memories of having to turn around in windy/wavy conditions, unladen, getting beam in 3 foot waves and leaning to turn downwind. I've also fished out a friend in open water with the wind torqueing his boat over, and the same has happened to me in a squall (as I was looking down zipping up my jacket in preparation, without the paddle in my hand). A few inches less freeboard would have helped (as well as a longer slider).
 
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