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Wenonah Canak

If anyone is around North Georgia or willing to travel there has been a Monarch posted for a while on FB.


Spendy but looks like it's in great shape. I paddle a Prism and wanted a decked option for off shore. I asked Wenonah about it and they said they can't build one anymore. Doesn't sound like much hope of finding a used one either. The gentleman I corresponded recommended a spray deck. Initially I was resistant because I might want to trade up for a Voyager when I inevitably go lighter (currently 1995 Tuffweave).
 
The Monarch and the Falcon both look really intriguing to me. I just can't stand the look of the cockpit coaming. Has anyone seen a boat with a canoe-like center, (just gunwales, single blade height seat) but with front and rear decks?
 
The combing is how you attach the skirt. If you remove that option you ultimately lose a ton of functionality. Of course, 90% of the time you would go in or not go at all in the type of conditions that would require you to use a skirt. I've also read that a spray deck and skirt trap heat when it's cold so there is that. I'm going with the float bag and spray deck option. I'll do the float bags first because I might get a voyager or advantage when I upgrade and I only want to spend the cash on a spray deck once the boat is settled.
 
Just wondering if anyone here either has or had a Wenonah Canak? What do you like or don't like about it? Personally I've never seen one let alone paddle one, however I'm fascinated with the concept and wish they'd bring it back. Anyway I thought it might be a fun discussion, cheers!View attachment 131282

I'm a little late to the party, but I've had my Canak for a decade, and still loving it. Yup, I'm another "it will be for sale when I am dead" Canak owner :D

It would be perfect if it had significantly more flare to the bow, just to keep it from torpedoing through waves. But that's where the coaming comes in. Only time my lap gets wet is launching off a beach with breaking waves. In open water even in a good swell, the bow cuts through the waves but the coaming lip pretty much stops any water that gets that far back.

I STILL haven't been able to compare hull bottoms of a Prism vs Canak side by side, I was not the biggest fan of a Prism, and I was told that the Canak hulls came out of a different mould. The Canak 'paddles soft', is the best way I can describe it. Not the fastest boat, but just nice confidence inspiring to paddle in big water. And it is as wind immune as a canoe can be, which suits me just fine.

Kruger boats were 'too much boat' for what I needed, and like Goldilocks, the Canak is juuuuust right. There's the little things, like the kayak paddle bungees on the side which are very nice to have, the guys that came up with this boat know paddling and had what they wanted in mind. It is a unique niche boat, and I am feeling bad I didn't pimp it enough when it was still in production.
 
I'm a little late to the party, but I've had my Canak for a decade, and still loving it.

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That goldilocks feeling is how feel in the Prism. The guy I talked to said the hulls were very similar (canak & prism) but the canak is a bit shorter so not quite the same. His words. I kind of assumed the 6" came off of the bow and stern when it was cut down for the deck. Cool boats and it's a confidence inspiring hull for sure. With a deck on my Prism I would feel completely at ease in almost any conditions I would actually want to paddle in.
 
If the OP or anyone is unable to find a Canak, you might consider buying a Prism and adding a deck.
 
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