I currently have the opportunity to purchase an old Wenonah canoe. The problem is, I know nothing about it! I was wondering if anyone could help. All it says on the side is “Kevlar 49.” It is 15 ft. long(?) with a single sliding seat. No keel and has wood top rails and ends. It’s white. Does anybody have an idea of when this would have been made or anything else about it?
It has been sitting chained to a tree on the side of an old woman’s house for the past 5+ years. So it needs some work. The wood would need to be replaced and it has some serious mildew growing on it but. She’s a bit grimey as is, but with a little work I think it could be a real beaut. Assuming it floats, how much would it be worth?
Picture might help a lot
– Last Updated: May-29-12 8:12 PM EST –
Kevlar 49 is what it is made of. Its a fabric widely used by Wenonah and others.
Worth? Depends on the year it was made. In the stern there is a plate or etching with the HIN.. the last three numbers are month and year.
Kevlar 49
First, if you call wenonah tomorrow and give them the serial # they will probably be able to tell you the year, boat, and hull layup. All questions answered definitely. Till’ then lets speculate.
Kevlar 49 is DuPont’s “brand name” of kevlar fabric. Thats all that refers to.
Its a Kevlar hull, thus the sticker. If you can see the golden kevlar fabric on the outside its the Ultralight hull. If it has a Gel Coat (opaque painted appearance) it will be the Kevlar Flex core hull. Either are nice.
When you say “needs work” do you mean cracks in the kevlar or just the mildew or something in between?
thanks
Definite gel coat. Its a solid white. The material looks good. No cracks that I saw, just mildew. I will make sure to check out those numbers the next time I’m over there. I think I might be able to get it for $100 or so.
should be worth it
It sounds like the hull is in good shape. That’s the most important thing. Cleaning a boat up isn’t that hard - nothing a little time and effort won’t take care of.
At 15’ it could be the Solitude. I believe it’s the same as the Solitude currently sold by Clipper Canoes http://www.clippercanoes.com/boat_specs.php?model_id=115 I spent a few hours in one and thought it was a very pleasant boat to paddle.
If you can really get it for $100, that would be a steal. I wouldn’t be averse to paying more than that as long as you aren’t afraid to do the woodwork, which it sounds like you are comfortable doing.
Probably Solitude
If its kevlar and the hull is solid, yes its sure worth $100. If its so old they were using the Kevlar 49 sticker and its a gel coat Solitude, it probably is not in one of the current layups. Some more questions; Is the seat attached to a wood or aluminum stand? Are there any ribs inside the hull? Cross ways or one long one running the length of the hull? Is the bottom smooth and does it have a core? What is the color of the interior, under the mildew?
The Solitude is a fine solo, well balanced between stability and speed. The layups are all good, some are more rugged and others are lighter. In the water you will not notice a paddling difference between them.
Good luck with this canoe,
Bill
$100?
What’s there to think about? Buy it now and figure out what it is later.
Alan
Smart
I think that’s the plan.
Mnft’s HIN# / Serial Number
There should be a manufacturer’s Hull Id. Number on the right stern close under the rail. That should tell us hull and year of manufacture.
WeNoNah did a small sit and switch hull as well as the Solitude. Widths at rail and max beam should also help us narrow the search.
Here’s a Solitude story:
Mike Galt was doing a clinic in Florida when a young woman approached him questioning why she couldn’t get her Solitude to track. Would he try?
Mike got in the thing, and was stunned to find he couldn’t keep it on course either.
A few weeks later, Mike was on the other side of FL and stopped by Gene Jensen’s for a courtesy call. There, stacked among other hulls in the backyard was a Solitude with a surfboard skeg on the stern.
When Mike asked, Gene admitted he needed the skeg to get the boat to track! So it goes.
hummm
That’s a funny story, Charlie. I wonder if Wenonah made some changes to he design because I didn’t have any trouble at all with the one I paddled. Of course there is always the possibility that I’m not even a good enough paddler to screw up properly 
ouch…
…I had pretty much settled on a Clipper Solitude as my “reward” boat once I get some more weight off and resurrect my dilapidated Wenonah Solo Plus to make sure I can still paddle.
(I haven’t posted in a while so I had to re-register - I do read this forum pretty much daily just to keep up with the latest and greatest in paddling - returning to “lurk” mode…)
Kevlar 49 Aramid
After getting a lot of advise here I bought a used one recently. The wood is good but I stripped it and gave it 3 coats of spar and compounded the gel coat and waxed it good.
If the lady will take a hundred and you know how to replace the wood it sounds like she would be a solid boat. I paid 600 which may have been too much but finding a quality canoe in Florida is tough.
Performance:
Fast!!
Needs weight in back in the wind to track straight. I weigh 230# and put a 25# bag of rock salt in the back then slide the set way back. Using a double bladed paddle I’m getting good control and can do pretty well against wind and current.
Did I say Fast!!?
She draws a lot of attention from all the yakkers in Tampa Bay
I’ve been thinking about price
I’ve been noting a theme espousing getting “good pricing”, or deep deals on used boats.
I was driving back from Syracuse to my Saranac Lake home when I noticed trash piled around a DEC barrel. My friend Mike brennan, who did the drive with me, mentioned that he was surprised DEC had barrels out, because some folks always choose to cheat the system; not pay the $2.00 at the dump, but dump where the commons, that would be us, have to pay their dump fees.
It’s kinda like ocean fishing, the Bluefin Tuns may be gone, but I got my share.
I was reminded of a former employee and a friend. The friend bought a new Curtis LadyBug in Kev at Cold Run Canoe’s going out of business sale for ~$1,200, well below list. He was immediately diagnosed with cancer and passed a couple months later.
My employee happened upon his widows garage sale and bought the boat for $350. It was a great buy, or was it an act of theft from a grieving widow? He knew what the boat was worth, she didn’t, but he chose to cheat her.
We are a community of paddlers and need to treat each other accordingly, which might be stretched to not cheating widows and folks in extremus poorly. We need to be thinking about “what’s a fair price?”
What model?
There are a lot of boats made with kevlar 49.
Gelcoat doesn’t = Flexcore
Gelcoat doesn’t indicate a layup. It could be an ultralight boat with a gelcoat. I had a Wenonah Moccasin built that way. Moccasin was a 15’ kneeling version of the Prism for smaller paddlers, or that is how Dave Kruger explained it to me.
Depending on the age, It could also be an earlier rib-construction boat.
There are plenty of boats I wouldn’t pay $100 for if they’ve sat outside for a number of years. If it couldn’t be cleaned up with a power washer, I’d probably wouldn’t want to spend the time on it.
Charley
There are two political parties in this country. One takes care of the poor. The other screws them.
Great Advice
Thanks for the philosophical Bull shit Charlie! Very impressive!!! Just wanted to let you know this is the first time I have ever posted in any discussion board and it’s for this exact reason. The internet is full of pompous turds much like yourself, who feel obliged to smear their arrogance wherever the see fit. It would be phenomenal if your opinion had any pertinence to the situation, but it obviously does’t. Sooooo. Go f’ yourself and I’ll see you at the Waterhole.
For everybody else. I’m going to post some pictures soon. I would love some input.