OK...How about the Wenonah Wilderness solo?

Been looking for a solo under 16ft.
I kind of like this boat for the stability to fish out of and yet keep a little speed/efficiency over the Basswood Solo.

Both look good. Specs have me thinking the shallow arch is more defined in the Wilderness.
I like my milage days, but also will lay up for 2 days at a site to paddle bays and islands to fish.

Who has experience with these? Share your thoughts.

I have had my Wilderness (T-Formex) about 5 years. I bought it lightly used from the original owner. My intention was to use it on the rocky streams in the UP. Never got around to that and now most of my canoeing is base camping with friends in tandems. The Wilderness carries my camping gear easily and I take more gear than others because I need a variety of comfort items. I have always paddled with a single blade. This spring I will be trying a kayak paddle that was given to me last Fall. The Wilderness is more stable than my previous solo, a CJ Solo, but not as quick.

A year or so ago I rented a Prism for an afternoon and found that suits my solo paddling needs. So I have been looking for a used Prism in kevlar. I can still easily carry the Wilderness (53# in T -Formex), but wouldn’t complain about carrying a 30-some pound kevlar Prism.

A 30 lb. boat is nice and once you go there it is tough to go heavier. I still keep a kevlar / gelcoat Prism in my stash of boats and it weighs about 42 lbs. and could also be an option if you come across one. The Prism is however 16'6".

RBourg said:

A 30 lb. boat is nice and once you go there it is tough to go heavier. I still keep a kevlar / gelcoat Prism in my stash of boats and it weighs about 42 lbs. and could also be an option if you come across one. The Prism is however 16'6".

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Yeah.....sometimes I really miss my old Zephyr. Not the best wilderness tripper, as far as capacity, but I made it work.

RatAssassin said:

Been looking for a solo under 16ft.
I kind of like this boat for the stability to fish out of and yet keep a little speed/efficiency over the Basswood Solo.

Both look good. Specs have me thinking the shallow arch is more defined in the Wilderness.
I like my milage days, but also will lay up for 2 days at a site to paddle bays and islands to fish.

Who has experience with these? Share your thoughts.

Click to expand...

I have a Wenonah Wilderness in the UL layup, 32 pounds. I find it to be a stable boat. My test paddle was on a breezy, white capped day with about 1.5 foot chop. It held a line quite nicely in a crosswind yet responded well to turning strokes.

I have the seat set high so I can kneel when needed, but find it difficult to return to the seat because of it’s narrow beam. However that narrow beam puts you in great position to have an efficient paddle stroke. My Wilderness replaced an Advantage which was too hard tracking for my uses.

I know I'm going to catch some heck BUT a Northstar NW Solo in starlite is 27#'s... Just saying!

I wanted to buy a Northstar Solo, but would have to drive over 4000 miles round trip to get one. I bought a Wenonah Wilderness locally. It is only about 2 lbs heavier than the Northstar Solo. I haven’t had my Wilderness in the water yet because all of the lakes and most of the rivers are froze over.

dramey said:

I wanted to buy a Northstar Solo, but would have to drive over 4000 miles round trip to get one. I bought a Wenonah Wilderness locally. It is only about 2 lbs heavier than the Northstar Solo. I haven’t had my Wilderness in the water yet because all of the lakes and most of the rivers are froze over.

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To be fair I have never paddled a Wilderness but know others who do and really love it. Winter needs to go away

The wilderness is a great allrounder. A bit underrated by many .

No experience paddling one, but I was looking for a dedicated solo some time back and CEW recommended this boat. I am 240lbs and wanted a boat to haul my gear for comfort trips. Based on that I had to go larger so I went Solo Plus, which is out of your desired length. However, I have a Rockstar which I believe dimension wise is close to Wilderness. It works for portage trips, but you can fill it up fast. Of course, I always bring too much crap.

I remember it being a very popular hull for the mainly lake trippers over on BWCA.com

Alan

I've got a u/l Wilderness and previously had one in Rx. Good all around boat. Do I wish it was a little faster? Sure. A little turnier? Yes, that too. But as a package deal it works well for me. One thing to note that others haven't is the seat. It is adjustable for seated, kneeling, or double blading. I've used all. Not as quiet as I'd like and difficult to adjust on the fly, but I like that versatility.

I have a fair amount of experience with this boat. I paddled a Wilderness in T-Formex (a loaner/demo boat from Wenonah) for about 6 months before deciding to commit to purchasing one. I have had my Wilderness since July 2020. It has wood gunwales, internal skidplates, and an Innegra/Kevlar layup. I have made some modifications over the years. To start, I removed the seat from Wenonah and replaced it with a contoured seat from Swift. The grab handles and thwarts were replaced with sinker cyprus, and I added in closed-cell foam kneeling pads as well as several tie-down points from Northwater. Eventually, I ditched the footrest as well.

Paddling:

I paddle mostly flatwater down here in NE FL, with the occasional swift stream. 99% of the time, I am paddling from a kneeling position with the boat on edge, even when loaded for a trip. That is just my preference, and I feel like I can hit my stride well in this position. I am 6ft 185lbs and have had up to 70lbs worth of gear in the canoe for a 5-day trip (water had to be packed in) with no issues at all. The most I have paddled in a single day was 18 miles, and the boat cruises along well in my opinion and tracks nicely with a proper J-Stroke.

I have a few videos of trips on YouTube of the boat in the Okefenokee Swamp in SE GA if you are interested. I have zero regrets purchasing, and as someone stated earlier, it is a solid all-around boat. To me, the 15ft is the sweet spot.

I think with all the wood trim, my boat comes in around 32lbs total weight.

Durability:

As I said, I predominantly paddle flat water down here and never get into anything too terrible. With that said, I have had my fair share of encounters with rocks and logs beneath the surface, but the material layup has held up just fine. I had one tiny spot where the finish rubbed through due to poor handling from an outfitter. 15 miles of bumpy roads against a piece of steel angle iron will do a number on any boat. Even still, a little g-flex, and it was all set.

I ALWAYS wet-foot exit/load the boat, but it has been dragged over many logjams while duck hunting and hitting up smaller creeks.

All in all, I would not hesitate to purchase this exact same boat again. I will toss up some photos sometime tomorrow with the boat loaded up to give you an idea of the capacity.

Hope that helps!

I owned a Wilderness for a decade. It was in the tuffstuff layup, fairly heavy by today’s personal standard. I used it on the river and lakes around here. It worked. Not a tripper due to volume (especially with a dog). Mine had a noisy seat that tipped forward for knee paddling. The Gelcoat was pretty but chipped. Today, I’d get a prospector 14. A more versatile hull, and there are several light and durable hull materials out there.