Update on my Wenonah Fisherman 16’ restoration

https://imgur.com/gallery/2zw7hfS

Thanks a lot to everyone who responded to my previous plea for help. The advice from here (and also Reddit r/canoeing) was great. Boat on!

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Great job!

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Great Job. I see you added about 15 pounds in paint and glass. What did the end weight come out at?

:canoe:

Strong work, a lot to be said for a boat with mojo already built in

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Great work. That must be so satisfying.

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Looks fantastic. Keep us posted on how well the Rustoleum Marine paint holds up.

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Another one saved from the landfill.
Nice looking boat.

About 87lbs. A beast of a boat for sure. I think factory was about 72….

I went the other way when I worked over my OT Guide 147 starting at around 80# and taking them blow molded heavy plastic seats out and wood thwarts I got it down closer to 70#. Then I added floatation and brought the weight back up to where I started.

I wouldn’t want it much heavier for off the water, but on the water it isn’t a problem IMO.

Once I figured out a good way to solo load it on my car and transport it with a dolly similar to yours I was fine.

Looks like you are sitting in the bow seat backwards to paddle solo. How do you handle the thwart? Do you have any issue from that seat with the new bow riding too high? That was a problem I found.

Nice job.
:canoe:

Satisfying to fix up beat up stuff. :+1:

Fortunately I’m tall enough to get my legs over the thwart and sit in a natural position. No way I could go from kneeling to sitting over and over though. also might get uncomfortable on a multi day. I’m pretty light (for now) so the bow didn’t stick up too much, I usually just rearrange the cooler or random items to even it out. I’ve only taken it out a few times for the day tho so time will be the true test

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You will know for sure first time you get on open water with a good wind coming from the side. When I first redid mine I thought I was balanced pretty good and was loving it in sheltered areas. We went out on our local dam and the wind came up and I didn’t think I would make it back to the launch and the only way I did was by kneeling moving my CG forward. Having the smooth hull is nice but I found not having any keel and lightly loaded balance CG became very important. The plus side is taking a canoe that can run with 800# in it and loading in maybe 300# or less you can get thru some really shallow water. I was passing a lot of stuck kayaks this summer when our local river was down.

I suspect at some point you will want to relocate the thwart. Depends on how much you use it as a tandem. I doubt you would even notice it if it was gone completely.
:canoe: