I unloaded my overweight plastic "war-horse" a few months ago and set out to look for a lighter, second-hand tandem Royalex 16' for camping, fishing and general recreation on predominantly lazy rivers with few rapids. Wasn't looking for a boat that did anything great but everything acceptably and adequate room for gear. As Royalex got scarcer and folks with it expecting more of a premium, I'd almost decided to wait for the perennial "craigslist Jan.-Feb. deals from angry-soon-to-be-exes" headed for divorce court. I'd somewhat narrowed the field to the MR or OT from advice here and the fact that they're usually available specimens from a regional perspective, when up pops the LN Wenonah at a price I couldn't pass up. I knew the least about them...did I do good?
Yes.
You got the Aurora, right?
Great all-around tandem, IMO. So is the Explorer, but my preference would be the Aurora. The Camper is popular with people who value primary stability, but not so much with those of us who prefer to give some of that up for more secondary and a bit more glide. I liked mine okay, but not as much as I do boats with a more rounded bottom.
great line about Craigslist!
spelling challenged
Steve, yes I got the Aurora…now I just have to learn how to spell it! I found out the edit button won’t let you correct spelling in the subject field. And apologies for my feeble attempt at humor to those with truly angry exes…been married 38 years because everytime the thought of a “sleeker, faster” model crossed my mind I thought about that judge’s gavel coming down and I remembered how much I love my better half…of course it did mean I’ve paddled crappy boats most of my adult life, lol.
Nice boat
I have a Spirit II in kevlar that I definitely don’t paddle enough. Did you get the royalex or composite version.