Wenonah Rendezvous anyone?

[Dagger]

I am interested in a Rendezvous I found locally. I have not seen the boat yet (other than a few photos), but the current owner says its Royalex. It does have a sliding seat though and a ridge down the centerline of the interiour of the canoe. I have never seen a royalex boat with those features and believe it might be an older fiberglass Tuff Weave instead. He also says its a 1997 and weighs 59 pounds. The weight sounds about right for either material.

I'd love to hear from you (current or past) Rendezvous owners. What were (are) your experiences with that canoe? I do mostly flat or flat moving water. The most trouble I get myself into is class II.

...I should add, this canoe is not going to be my "daily driver" but rather my solo river/flat moving water boat...

 

[yellowcanoe]

I paddled the Buffalo with a couple of Rendezvous owners years back.. Its a wet ride in wave trains and only kind of maneuverable. You are correct. Alu rails used on RX boats are different than they ones in your picture and a longitudinal rib was used in some glass boats.
Not all class II is alike.. The boat will punch through rather than go over waves.. So if the waves are over a foot and a half.. wet lap.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Yup, 'tis composite, probably Tuffweave, don't call it fiberglass!.

Would be fine for what you are looking for. Add float bags or even better a short spray deck to keep the water out. Lots of discussion about Rendezvous hull shapes on the web. The first Royalex ones had the thwarts cut too short so were too narrow and very wet, composites were always better I believe.

My wife recently sold hers as it wasn't getting enough use. I tried to persuade her to keep it but it was her canoe so it went.

 

[Dagger]

Bothwell,
I called it fiberglass because the original Wenonah Tuf-Weave was mostly fiberglass. At least that's what I understood from a phone call with Wenonah a while back. I like your idea of the short spray deck a lot!
I read a few other discussions on the web. It looks like different layups produced very different paddling attributes in this boat. And yes, the Royalex folks all complain about the narrow bow...and wet laps!

I just received a little more information from Wenonah. The canoe was built in 93 for the 94 model year. They called the layup "Tuf-Weave® fiberglass hull with center rib stiffening". Wenonah said they were not yet building Royalex boats in 93.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Fiberglass is not a dirty word.
S glass E glass have good uses in a canoe
Chopper gun fg. Not so much
All my boats save the wooden ones have some glass in them.

 

[Dagger]

Ah...I see. I should have called it by the proper name. Probably shouldn't have called it a boat either...

 

[pblanc]

Wenonah does not use their center-rib construction for their composite boats anymore, but it was marketed as being the strongest construction for river use. You could tell this boat was not Royalex right away, not only by the center rib, but by the end flotation tanks. Royalex has positive buoyancy, so Royalex boats do not have end tanks.

Tuff-weave boats are not as light as Wenonahs aramid composites but they are quite strong. Tuff-weave is a proprietary lay-up that includes polyester with fiberglass.

I have only paddled the Royalex version of the Rendezvous. It was generally considered a river boat, but as such it had decent efficiency. I suspect the composite version would be even better in that regard.

 

[Guest]

I like the composite Rendezvous as a moving water hull (when actually paddling). The RX version is quirkier and the low tumblehome bubble seems more troublesome on the plastic version.

But both for me are canoes that require an active paddle; stop and glide quickly becomes stop and start turning. The quirk is more evident as a light load day paddler than with a tripping load, and is presumably more hull shape complex than just the rocker.

Wenonah claims 2 or 2 ½” of (symmetrical?) rocker and other canoes similar in length/width with that stated amount of rocker seem to glide track much better when I stop paddling.

That glide turn quirk may just be my ineptitude of style. On flat moving water, especially the smaller more intimate stuff, my penchant is often to stop paddling and float quietly in places to have a motionless look and listen. I have already seen what is behind me, and don’t need to slowly spin around to see it again.

Tuff-weave is a very durable layup and at the right price, for the right paddler, that is a desirable canoe. It is also a canoe that some folks love and others, meh, not so much. Test paddling used boats adds a degree of difficulty, and I have never test paddled a-for-sale used canoe, although I have usually paddled that model before.

The Rendezvous is one of those canoes that merits at least some brief seat time before deciding.

Ya never know though; I had an RX Rendezvous that went to a near novice friend and he loves the thing.

 

[Dagger]

As suspected, it is tuf-weave, the older version with glass (S,E,?). The seller let me test paddle it too, which was pretty easy since a lake was only 15 minutes away. I read enough about that hull, that I wouldn't have bought it if I couldn't test paddle it. As you said Mike, I read plenty reviews from folks that like the Rendezvous and just as plenty that don't. Quite strong opinions too. Much like liver and onions I guess. I never met anyone that sort of liked liver and onions. They love it or nearly throw up just thinking about it

Anyway, the boat fit me like a glove and I felt at home in it right away. I found it plenty stable and plenty fast enough for slow rivers or even lakes. A cross bow draw makes it spin nicely, and I even found it to track better than I expected.
I'll polish it up a little and post some photos.

Thanks for your input Guys!

...quick edit...the sliding seat in this boat is worth its weight in gold! Even 10 minutes of paddling (pretty windy day) made me realize that correct trim makes all the difference with this hull.