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Wenonah Encounter - Why Not?

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Mar 8, 2022
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Location
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Good morning, all!

I have an Encounter that has come up for sale near me. I am familiar with the hull specifications and design parameters, but have never been able to actually paddle one. I had one reserved for Sylvania, but the outfitter convinced me to take a Basswood solo instead. I am convinced that was a mistake, as i am very sure I overloaded the BS, burying the chines under the surface, leading to a holding-the-basketball-underwater feeling when in calm water, and a broach-and-capsize once the chop started up. 😄

I am 6'3" with most of my height in my torso (32" inseam). I am a broad shouldered, barrel-chested, 285lbs. I generally prefer the control of kneeling to sitting, but don't like to kneel for more than an hour.

I generally take about 65lbs of gear plus food. I do not (yet) have a dog with which to canoe. Should I get one after the son leaves, it will be a 25-35lb variant.

I dont portage much locally, as we do not have lake chains. I do take occasional trips to the BWCA, but have always rented a boat there.

My concerns:
Gunnel width only 25"! (Max 31.5, WL 29)
Tuf-Weave layup is 54+lbs

Actual boat in question:

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$600, 1.5 hour drive. Seller says no soft spots, just gel coat damage. I have requested a few more pictures.


Current canoes in the garage:
Swift Shearwater (son's)
Wenonah P15 (son's)
Old Town Tripper, soloized
Nova Craft SuperNova

Non-owned canoes I have paddled for at least an overnight:

Northstar B17
NS Northwind 17
NS Polaris solo
Wenonah Basswood Solo
OT Penobscot 16
Mad River Explorer 16
Mohawk Blazer 16
 
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I had an 97 tuffweave encounter until the tornado tore the roof off the boat shed and threw the boat into the trees. I am 6'1 and 290lbs. I liked the boat but not the bucket seat/narrow sitting station. I have bad hips so getting in and out of the boat was tough as well. It cruised great on a lake with little wind but when the wind picked up the boat was tough to handle.
 
Seems like you want it so you might as well get it. A little minor repair work and, at worst, you could resell it for what you have in it if you decide you don't like it.

I've never paddled one. I raced against one (me in my Magic) in a recreational canoe class and it was super windy that day. The Encounter was getting blown all over the place at the starting line and he later capsized in the whitecaps. I talked to him after the race and he was really struggling with control in the wind. The paddler was probably 170 with no other weight in the boat.

I always thought it looked like an interesting boat but the high volume is a turn off for me. It's not a boat I'd want to trip with and for local day paddles I have other hulls of similar dimension but lower volume.

Alan
 
I have paddled tandem canoes solo for 40 years. I found a 32 inch beam to be too tender for me.
I suspect you may have the same issue with a boat like this.
In my opinion, you would be better off with a small tandem canoe.
 
The answer is yes, buy the canoe!

... wait, you have a soloized Tripper? Pictures?

Here are a couple, I will have to get some better ones next time I drag her out. Ive gone back and forth with the front seat. Its back about 8" from original because of how i pulled in the gunnels. I've used a thwart there as well. Thwart looks cleaner, but this way I can still take someone along on a day trip.

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Tryin, I just purchased one it is a 2024 Kevlar model. I have a large dog that goes with me sometimes to the lake. I am roughly 6’ and 230. I keep a couple of 30 L dry bags with me if I need to add a little weight to trim the canoe out. They don’t weigh anything empty. When filled with lake water I can add up to 69.8 pounds each. I plan to do some camping/deer hunts with it. Being it is a solo canoe , I can us a double bladed paddle or canoe paddle.

The fixes will be easy and wont exceed the price of canoe you are looking to buy plus materials and your time. So it will be worth it if you want it.
 
I've never paddled one, so take my observations with that it mind.

I generally prefer the control of kneeling to sitting, but don't like to kneel for more than an hour.

Well, you know you're not going to be kneeling off that tractor seat. Maybe it's possible but the canoe is designed for seated paddling, primarily sit & switch.

I dont portage much locally, as we do not have lake chains. I do take occasional trips to the BWCA, but have always rented a boat there.

So what are you going to do mainly with this canoe other than paddle it locally with no portages? Are you still going to rent in the BWCA? Answering those questions should help guide your decision. It's a huge volume solo at 17' long and with 14" center depth just for a day trip canoe, even for someone your size with a (maybe) dog.

My concerns:
Gunnel width only 25"! (Max 31.5, WL 29)

With that 29" waterline spec it probably has decent initial stability. It must have radical tumblehome to squeeze the gunwales to 25", which could mean its secondary stability is not progressive to the gunwale and that it may flip early. I'm not surprised about reports of trouble in wind and waves.

I wouldn't pay even $600 without a test paddle. It's too unusual a solo to predict handling from specs. Hopefully the seller is near some sort of test water. If you really like its performance and weight, it seems worth the price and trouble of some gelcoat repairs. If not, not.
 
Well, you know you're not going to be kneeling off that tractor seat. Maybe it's possible but the canoe is designed for seated paddling, primarily sit & switch.
For sure. I have never used a tractor-style seat before, so it would be a very new experience.


So what are you going to do mainly with this canoe other than paddle it locally with no portages? Are you still going to rent in the BWCA? Answering those questions should help guide your decision. It's a huge volume solo at 17' long and with 14" center depth just for a day trip canoe, even for someone your size with a (maybe) dog.
We take camping trips to large flowages. The Turtle-Flambeau in Wisconsin is a good example. No ports, lots of gear. I AM concerned about the size of the boat, but that Basswood solo felt horribly overloaded, and this is the (big) step up from that. I dont know if I would still rent, as this hull would theoretically be suited just fine for the BWCA, just heavy by modern UL standards.


With that 29" waterline spec it probably has decent initial stability. It must have radical tumblehome to squeeze the gunwales to 25", which could mean its secondary stability is not progressive to the gunwale
It does have very aggressive tumblehome. So much so that they do not offer a hung seat option.

It would be a very new foray. None of my hulls to this point are comparable.

I appreciate the comments!
 
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It would be a very new foray. None of my hulls to this point are comparable.

If I was reasonably confident that I could eventually sell it without taking much of a loss, I would consider buying it for that very reason. Maybe I'd hate it. Maybe I'd be surprised how much I like it.
I never thought I'd like a bucket seat until I spent some time on one. The only bubble sided Wenonah I ever paddled (briefly) didn't seem too friendly to me - but.... I wasn't even a moderately skilled paddler then. Now it would be more educational to give it a chance.
 
Wenonah makes two different sizes of buckets. I'm not sure which size comes on the Encounter but likely you would find the small size to be too small. The small size comes standard on their racing canoes and I've more often seen the large size on their tripping models.

I personally don't find the large Wenonah bucket to be all that comfortable but the small bucket is about the most comfortable seat I've sat in. The hands down most comfortable seats I've sat in is the large bucket seats Sawyer used to make.

It would also be easy enough to adapt a webbed seat to work with their floor mounted pedestal if you didn't like the bucket.

Alan
 
Wenonah makes two different sizes of buckets. I'm not sure which size comes on the Encounter but likely you would find the small size to be too small. The small size comes standard on their racing canoes and I've more often seen the large size on their tripping models.

I personally don't find the large Wenonah bucket to be all that comfortable but the small bucket is about the most comfortable seat I've sat in. The hands down most comfortable seats I've sat in is the large bucket seats Sawyer used to make.

It would also be easy enough to adapt a webbed seat to work with their floor mounted pedestal if you didn't like the bucket.

Alan
Thanks for that new info! I didn't know they made two sizes.

Also, the recommended threads feature popped out this beauty, which may be of some use for anyone looking at bucket seat options. I appreciate the detailed posts in here as well.

 
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