Let me start by saying that I love my two composite tripping canoes, made by WeNoNah. I have bought both of them used off of Craigslist. In 2013 I bought a 1985 model, Jensen, 17'6" fiberglass model. I believe it compares to their current model "Escape." It has logged about 150 BWCA miles so far. This spring I purchased a 1989 Wenonah Odyssey in excellent condition for $1k. I have already put 50 b-dub miles on it and certainly favor it to the shorter, heavier, wetter-bowed fiberglass Jensen, especially since I always have my 96# Labrador with me and a waning tendency to travel with larger, double-portaging groups.
Life has placed me in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, living and working with a close friend and fellow BWCA fan. Long story short, this winter we hope to build a tandem tripper for him (since he won't buy my Jensen) and then a solo for me. We are both carpenters by trade, but he has much more experience with the table-tools and finish work. I have more experience, umm, tripping, so I get to choose the mold. Yada yada, basically looking to source plans for a 16'-18' tandem that is easy to build for a couple of rooks, fast on flat water and not afraid of waves or headwind.
Right now my own research has narrowed things down to the NWC Cruiser, NWC Winisk, or the Freedom 17 from Bear Mountain but none fit the bill exactly.
I feel like the symmetrical Cruiser would be the easiest build. I would, however, add a bit of bow height to it because that is one place it severely lacks vs. my Odyssey (18 1/2" vs ~23"[?]). We are young and don't like the wind to tell us whether we can paddle or not on any given day. 1" of rocker sounds acceptable to me. Maneuverability is not as much of a concern as speed and efficiency are.
I have read about how "modern" asymmetrical hulls are plenty fast and feature some rocker, but I know firsthand about the flat-water speed of my rocker-less Wenonahs so am tentative about having much. I've read some rave reviews about the Freedom line of canoes from Steve Killing but have been unable to find numbers for how much rocker the 17' hull has and\or reviews on the flat water speed of this hull vs. the rocker-less commercial jobs I already own. I feel better about the Freedom's 19.25" bow height but would still consider adding another inch to keep up with the Wenonahs. Another consideration is, regardless of time spent cutting stations, would an asymmetrical tandem hull like the Freedom prove to be too difficult for us novices to build? We will not be using staples.
The NWC Winisk seems to be the ideal canoe for me, except I am just plain scared of what the 3 1/4" of bow rocker means in relation to flat water speed and efficiency. I like to paddle straight lines across big lakes. My thinking tells me that it is easier to add bow height than to remove bow rocker (or both). If you have an opinion on a first time builder modifying plans like this, please let me know about it.
I don't want a walk-in-the-park build, as I want to be ready for #2, which will be a tripping solo with generous tumblehome. On the flip-side, I don't want to be outmatched and discouraged because I picked a difficult hull for my first build. I have read wysedave's Freedom 17 build and Sven's NWC Cruiser build.
Responses of "you're overthinking it" or "shut up and use the free plans, it's your first build" are welcome. I tend to over-research anything that costs more than $500 and be very particular in making my decision.
Thank you in advance,
Zac
Life has placed me in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, living and working with a close friend and fellow BWCA fan. Long story short, this winter we hope to build a tandem tripper for him (since he won't buy my Jensen) and then a solo for me. We are both carpenters by trade, but he has much more experience with the table-tools and finish work. I have more experience, umm, tripping, so I get to choose the mold. Yada yada, basically looking to source plans for a 16'-18' tandem that is easy to build for a couple of rooks, fast on flat water and not afraid of waves or headwind.
Right now my own research has narrowed things down to the NWC Cruiser, NWC Winisk, or the Freedom 17 from Bear Mountain but none fit the bill exactly.
I feel like the symmetrical Cruiser would be the easiest build. I would, however, add a bit of bow height to it because that is one place it severely lacks vs. my Odyssey (18 1/2" vs ~23"[?]). We are young and don't like the wind to tell us whether we can paddle or not on any given day. 1" of rocker sounds acceptable to me. Maneuverability is not as much of a concern as speed and efficiency are.
I have read about how "modern" asymmetrical hulls are plenty fast and feature some rocker, but I know firsthand about the flat-water speed of my rocker-less Wenonahs so am tentative about having much. I've read some rave reviews about the Freedom line of canoes from Steve Killing but have been unable to find numbers for how much rocker the 17' hull has and\or reviews on the flat water speed of this hull vs. the rocker-less commercial jobs I already own. I feel better about the Freedom's 19.25" bow height but would still consider adding another inch to keep up with the Wenonahs. Another consideration is, regardless of time spent cutting stations, would an asymmetrical tandem hull like the Freedom prove to be too difficult for us novices to build? We will not be using staples.
The NWC Winisk seems to be the ideal canoe for me, except I am just plain scared of what the 3 1/4" of bow rocker means in relation to flat water speed and efficiency. I like to paddle straight lines across big lakes. My thinking tells me that it is easier to add bow height than to remove bow rocker (or both). If you have an opinion on a first time builder modifying plans like this, please let me know about it.
I don't want a walk-in-the-park build, as I want to be ready for #2, which will be a tripping solo with generous tumblehome. On the flip-side, I don't want to be outmatched and discouraged because I picked a difficult hull for my first build. I have read wysedave's Freedom 17 build and Sven's NWC Cruiser build.
Responses of "you're overthinking it" or "shut up and use the free plans, it's your first build" are welcome. I tend to over-research anything that costs more than $500 and be very particular in making my decision.
Thank you in advance,
Zac
