Find a tandem Grumman aluminum canoe they can be found cheap on craigslist at almost any time. These things last forever so used is always available.
A tandem canoe will easily handle the load you are talking about carrying. A solo boat will not and will quite frankly be dangerous for you your passengers and your gear. If you arent worried about dad or your wife keep in mind you will probably at least lose your fishing equipment when you dump this boat! Been there done that.
Buy an old name brand aluminum at a reasonably price then sell it if you want when you are done with it. You won't lose a penny because these boats hold there value. You and dad will have a much better experience and dad will be alot more comfortable sitting in the bow seat instead of spralled on the floor.
This This is most likely what will end up happening. I’ve only had this canoe for about a month, I just happened to stumble upon an opportunity for a ‘free’ canoe and couldn’t pass it up even though it wasn’t what I was looking for. My main goal for a canoe is to fish with 1 or 2 other people and a solo canoe is just not the right tool for the job.
I run a computer repair store so I get lots of used computers to resell, which is what I traded for this canoe, a computer that had been donated the week before in perfect working order so it was a no brainer. I will try to trade this canoe or other computer for a tandem canoe if I can find one. It will be the right answer in the long run.
The nice thing about this particular canoe is it weighs less than 60lbs and I can lift it on top of my car by myself. Being able to solo load the boat is a requirement, but any canoe can be solo loaded most likely with some planning ahead.
A new Wenonah Encounter retails at $2000 USD so this decent used one is still probably worth at least $500 which gives me some good trade leverage.
This is a very nice solo expedition boat. Not sure what area you are located in but where I am just about any Wenonah sells for a premium price, unless it's totally trashed. Research the price before you sell this boat. I would guess its value to be 750.00 minimum. A decent tandem can be had a lot cheaper than that. Used Grumman's 17' go for 300.00 to 400.00. Old town guides or discoveries go for 400.00 to 500.00. These prices would be for boats in good shape.
Don't trade, sell your boat then buy what you want.
17' tandems are perfect for 2 large paddlers and can handle 3 much more easily than a solo will handle 2.
Thanks I will keep that in mind and not just trade straight across for an inferior boat. I see used canoes on craigslist in my area all the time for $200 to $750 so I should be able to find a decent one when the time comes.
Here is an imgur album I made of my canoe when I first got it. It has a couple of nice gouges in the front where the previous owner ran it into some rocks. Otherwise the other scratches are all pretty shallow and only in the gel coat. The inside of the canoe is perfect as far as I can tell.
Would you or someone else take a quick look and give me a broad estimate as to its worth? Not holding anyone to anything, I just don't know how much those gouges lower the value.
After looking at your pictures I am still standing by my previous guesstimate 650.00 to 750.00, maybe a little more. Scrapes and scratches are to be expected on a used canoe and I would still consider yours to be in good but not excellent condition. Those deeper scrapes on the front keel are also pretty common and easily repaired by putting a skid plate right over them, so not a real big concern.
Keep in mind that this is a tough time to sell a canoe, buyer's market for sure, fall is always slow. Try and wait untill spring/summer to turn your boat, you will have better luck selling yours and also finding another. Maybe just enjoy the fall weather in the encounter, you may fall in love and decide to keep it.
If you do decide to sell now, you are in a better position than some. Wenonah is a top line brand so there are always people watching and waiting for them.
Sportspal Foam Porta Seat I agree with the previous advice. Sell this one. The scuffs on the bottom look like they are just cosmetic. Buy a tandem that meets your needs.
Until you can sell or is selling doesn’t work out for you, you might consider one of the Sportspal Foam Porta Seats.
there is one listed for sale near the bottom of this link.
Prices have gone up I bought my Encounter for $500 five years ago. It is a tuffweave boat. It had some surface scratches and the inside was almost mint. Seems prices have gone up a $100/200 on boats over those last 5yrs or so.
Thanks Thanks for your advice, I intend to take it. I am in no rush to get rid of my canoe. If I didn’t love fishing with my dad and wife on the weekends and was all by myself I would have no issues whatsoever.
We’re still going to see how he sits in it this weekend. Maybe I’ll craft some pontoons eventually and see how that goes and when spring rolls around try to sell it for a nice amount and get a nice tandem.
Maybe if I build a pontoon system with a seat built into it the extra flotation would help hold the weight plus have the stability exactly where it was needed. Something for me to think about. It would slow me down but that’s not a big deal in the long run.
Seat That sure looks like a nice solid seat. If our back to back position works out and we wnts something more comfortable than a life jacket to sit on I might have to get one of those.
Waste of time By the time you design/build/make this pontoon system you could have just bought a beater tandem that will work. Get an aluminum canoe, keep the encounter and call it good. Winter is almost here and people will be trying to get rid of the boats they didn’t use this year. Start saving some dollars and keep checking CL daily to find that boat
Well You’re right, it wouldn’t be worth it in the long run. We haven’t even tried us both in the canoe yet to see what happens. I appreciate your advice. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to think about a pontoon system though but probably won’t do it.
The reason I was considering it is that I can construct one out of wood or PVC and scraps around my house for so much cheaper than any sort of canoe. I spent $0 on my current one and have $0 saved up for a new one so at this point its either pontoons or nothing. Or sell my canoe and maybe wait a month or two to find a new one. Or just let my dad sit on shore and watch me fish in my canoe.
I’m mainly just thinking out loud. Pontoons are not the way to go, but might be fun to play with.
Tandem canoe Well I took the sage advice given in this thread and found myself a Pelican Colorado 155 pretty cheap on Craigslist. Its in decent condition but its just a cheap plastic canoe compared to the sweet Wenonah.
My dad and I did get out together in the Wenonah and it went as badly as you’d expect. He sat on the floor behind me and the canoe took our weight just fine but any slight movement he made that wasn’t perfectly in tune with me sent us tipping wildly. We went back in as soon as we could, his hands were holding the sides of the canoe as hard as he could and trying not to move at all. It was very stressful.
We were supposed to take the Pelican out today but it decided to rain. I am going to replace the unsupported plastic bench seats and replace them with some metal bracketed wooden bench seats that we will attach some regular fishing / back support seats to. Those seats are held on with a plastic bracket that I found out from the padding.net review is very prone to breakage especially with 2 250lbs people using them so I’m going to be proactive.
I also had already ordered some buoy floats online to use as pontoons for the Wenonah and will still do that with this canoe for fishing stability, should work out well.
I think you will find that your Wenonah will be fine with a single paddler on board. Give yourself a little time to get accustomed to the boat, you will no longer feel the need for "pontoons". Give the boat a chance to do what it was designed to do, carry a single paddler and gear in comfort.
With your boats somewhat rounded hull it may feel a little tippy a first. I think you will learn that once your boat begins to tip and its secondary stability kicks in you would have a hard time making it tip completely over even if you try. Rounded hull makes your canoe paddle easier and more efficiently, something you will come to appreciate.
Pelican canoes have a small block of Styrofoam in the pedestal support under each seat. I know it doesn't seem like much but that's the only flotation your boat has and it is enough to keep it afloat. If you swamp with those blocks removed your canoe will sink like a rock. If only one is removed it will stand on end in the water with about a foot of bow or stern exposed above the surface. If you change the seats try to attach those pedestal blocks with there Styrofoam under the new seats. If that's not possible add some flotation somewhere in both ends to make up for what you remove.
Those pedestal supports pressing against the hull are also there to keep the canoe from oil canning. that's why its important to keep them even under a sturdy plywood seat.
I personaly saw a pelican Colorado do the end standing thing in deep water. There is no way to self rescue and reenter a boat in that condition and you cant drag it to shore. Your only option if no other boats were around to assist would be to abandon your canoe and swim for nearest land.
Pontoons I’ve fished several times from my Wenonah solo canoe and had no issues, I would not plan on adding them to that solo canoe for solo fishing. It was only a consideration when trying to figure out how to get my dad aboard. I didn’t mean to make pontoons the focus of my post.
I do still plan on adding them to my Pelican but I’d call them stabilizers more than pontoons, they are not meant to carry weight but to prevent tipping. Specifically when trying to fish from a standing position on the reinforced floor or when two people are sitting on high seats and fishing.
After spending time in my solo canoe I feel very comfortable in it and will certainly take it out when I go by myself.
I plan on replacing the flotation I removed by putting as much foam in between the seats and the floor as I can fit. I have quite a few flat sheets of packing styrofoam that I was going to cut to size to fit the bottom of the seat and just keep adding sheets until it very snugly fits against the bottom of the canoe. On the bottom of the seat will also be likely 2 supports going straight down to a horizontal piece of oak sitting on the bottom. The foam will surround the supports. I was also thinking of trying to attach an empty kitty litter bottle to each end somewhere for easy flotation. I had them in the wenonah to fill with water for ballast and they should work well for flotation too with a large sturdy handle to lash down.
Pontoons That is my plan. Solo canoe does not need pontoons. Standing in tandem canoe with 2 fat people could use some stabilizers when anchored and fishing in one place.
one more thing I wanted to add one thing about the pedestal seat supports. My canoe does not have supports under the seats like others, it only has 2 plastic seats attached to the gunnels with no support going to the floor of the canoe. I will add supports to my wooden seats.