Best way to add a seat to my Wenonah Enc

Let us know
how it worked.

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.



Thanks to everyone for all the advice.

Wenonah solo
If you take the Wenonah out solo, I think you’d find you won’t need pontoons.

second that

– Last Updated: Oct-27-15 2:14 AM EST –

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.

John R

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.



Thanks for your input.

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.