Wenonah Argosy seat height

[bootheelpaddler]

Picked up an Argosy a couple of years ago. Only paddled it a couple of times because of how tippsey it feels to me. I am considering selling it but I read a review on the wenonah wilderness where someone lowered the seat a couple of inches and it they felt more at ease with it. I am thinking about doing the same to my Argosy. Any thoughts on that

 

[flyingbison]

I have two Wenonahs and both have that tippy feeling (lack of initial stability), but secondary stability is good. Lowering the seat may help, but you may also just need to spend more time paddling it to get more comfortable/confident with that particular canoe. Take it to a relatively shallow area and try leaning to one side and the other to see how far it will go before actually capsizing.

 

[gumpus]

Lowering the seat can make a big difference. If you like to sit and the seat is placed high for kneeling then I'm not surprised if the boat feels sensitive, and if you like to kneel and can afford to lower the seat a bit and still get your feet under it that will make a difference that you can feel. Even a half inch can feel pretty dramatic. I think the Argosy is a quick boat that will also feel friendly if you get it set up right for you.

 

[goonstroke]

If you sit most of the time and don't have a footbrace, get one. They make a big difference both in feeling connected to the boat and in power stroke efficiency. I believe Wenonah always (?) puts one in their composite solos, but not their royalex ones.

 

[TheIndian]

Lots of great advice there...one other tip might be to add weight to the boat. Not sure if you want to do that though if you just want to enjoy paddling for a few hours but could be done easy enough. More weight would lower the boat in the water offering some more stability. When I've loaded it with tons of drybags for a trip through the Adirondacks, it becomes more stable. It's a wild mustang when empty haha....kinda, not really.

The Argosy is great for river paddling and I love it but unfortunately the moment I want to stop and fish out of it, it becomes a little unstable. But then again it wasn't designed for fishing.

I think if you drop to the knees like gumpus said, you'll find you have a totally manageable boat.

Keep us posted.

 

[Guest]

start low and I bet after time you will raise the seat when you have more seat time.