Canoe Ponderings by Red Rock Wilderness StoreCanoe Ponderings by Red Rock Wilderness Store
Souris River Compared to a Wenonah
Q.I have been looking at a Wenonah Spirit 2 in Flexcore. Just got done reading your writeup on foam core vs. ribs and the better epoxy you use..... What canoe do you make that would compare? I'm not doing whitewater, just canoe camping on lakes and big wide rivers (mostly). But we do hit an occasional rock/tree/etc.Want something to last a long time. Very interested in something a year or 2 old if available. Want something in color - not natural/skin color.
The canoe you want is a Souris River Quetico 17. They are greater than the Sprit II in stability, and also be turnable in the wind. The Spirit II is not manueverable despite having rocker in the ends. It only wants to go in a straight line and resists turning. Also, the Spirit II, like all Wenonahs, does not travel up and over waves. It is noted for going right through them which is fine as long as the wave is not higher than the bow. In this instance, the bow paddler often gets water in the lap. The Q-17 has rocker that starts from the center of the hull. Tracks nicely, but still can be turned into a crosswind. In rough water, it will pick up a 250 lb. guy up and over the oncoming waves. In rough ugly, conditions, the Souris Rivers are noted for their staying high and dry and this is what makes them an awesome canoe. Light carrying weight is only the secondary gain.
As for rocks, we live in Minnesota's Boundary Waters and that's the proving ground for all canoes. We don't have anything but rocks. Our used canoes looklike they've been sandblasted after 3 months of rentals. They have a zillion wicked looking scratches, but because these canoes can flex on demand right at the point of impact, the scratches rarely get down to the kevlar. The scratches are white however but none are deepr than 1/2 a millimeter. A foam core vinylester resin Wenonah, (or Bell, Mad River, Sawyer, Nova Craft, Clipper, and ALL the other kevlar canoes made) won't fair nearly as well under substantial rock pounding and skidding. We do not advocate rock pounding and slamming into shore at 30 MPH just to make the portage 18" shorter but tell that to our renters. Our private paddlers are nicer to their own canoes. The scratched up canoes can be refinished nicely by varnishing them with marine spar varnish. We have some used in Woven Color green in stock. One has some internal repair work but is in excellent working order with scratches. Another is a Green Tiger, (woven color green overlaid on Le Tigre kevlar = green with a subtle pinstripe) but these are rare since we usually only outfit the Le Tigre kevlar layup. WE ran out of canoes and added a bunch of new ones into rentals - not new anymore. These and the other used canoes will be available for sale after Sept 3. Plain Le Tigre is the most popular layup because it is a dead grass type color which is easy to refinish. Pretty colored canoes start to lose their look after about 5 minutes on the water. Impossible to not put a scratch in them.
Hope this info helps you out.
Thanks!
Joe
Red Rock