Wenonah Prism with cane seats....

I know the Prism comes standard with the tractor seat, but aesthetically I prefer a cane or even a mesh seat. But, will a cane seat change how it paddles? Does anyone have experience with the cane/mesh seats in the Wenonah Prism? Thanks.

Buckets are preferred by USCA types
who paddle really hard in a sitting position. We always liked them in our old 18.5 Moore Voyageur.



I agree with Eric that cane may not last long, though it does look nice. If you knew exactly where the seat needed to be in your Prism, you could get one of those dropped-down or pocketed cane seats such as are sold by Piragis.

cane seats
I’ve had no durability problems with cane seats, in fact I have a 1986 Old Town - Pathfinder canoe which I use every year and it still has it’s original cane seats in fairly good condition.

You probably have the brains not to
thump down on them, or stand on them, and to give them a good chance to dry out between trips. We all often see torn, collapsed, or blown-out cane seats produced by those who have no instinct for what materials can take.

I don’t know what I’m doing wrong
My cane seats just rot out in a few years. Every one in my family is between 150 and 250 so maybe they are just not made for fatso. It seems to me they start out strong enough but get much weaker and sag with time. Of couse I’ve only used the ones from Old Town

Bucket seats
If your paddling is limited to short excursions, by all means get what pleases you. However, bucket seats are much more comfortable if you plan on putting a lot of hours at a time in the boat. I ordered a Wenonah Sundowner several years back and thought I’d like the web seats, I ended up replacing them with the buckets. I also have a Bell magic with the cane seat, it’s very beautiful, it’s also hell on a long paddle. My Wenonah Voyager also has a bucket seat and I can paddle it all day without the butt hurting.

Wenonah puts bucket in their boats for a good reason.

voyager1
are you doing the 90 miler this year?

Charlie

Painful Magic
Glad I’m not the only one who suffers from the stock Magic seating. I’ve been asking around locally about putting a bucket seat into it, but today decided to experiment a little. I sculpted a seat from 3" minicell and, for now, attached it to the existing hung seat. Will see how it goes tomorrow.



Pete in Atlanta

magic seat
Pete, good luck with your modification. I’ve been asking the Bell folks for years to offer a sliding seat retrofit fot the Magic, they always give me some excuse why I don’t need it… Nothing like listening to your customers! That’s the primary reason I bought the Wenonah solo. The Magic is a fine boat, but despite all the padding I’ve added,it still was hell on long paddles. Bell does offer a Magic pro which is in carbon and has a sliding seat, but the seat is not available as a retrofit. They actually created a bulkheads to attach the sliding assembly. A friend of mine has one, and has trouble mounting his portage yoke because the seat won’t slide back far enough… A poor design in my opinion.

I’m thinking about calling Wenonah to see if I can order the slider assembly and glassing it into my Bell myself, I’ll let you know what I find out.

90 miler
Hi Charlie, yes, both John and I will be doing the 90 miler this year. I’ll be in the open touring class with my Voyager, John will be in the mens master solo class. Look forward to seeing you!

Wenonah Slider
is available separately; it’s in the dealer’s catalog and retail is about $70. I’ve been meaning to email Bell and ask if the Magic floor is up to the load.



Would appreciate hearing anything you may learn.



Pete in Atlanta

another word about cane
just another word on cane canoe seats. I too am a fan. Just remember that when you recane a seat it needs to “breathe” so avoid the varnish/shallac and other sealants. They will become brittle very quickly and you will go through them. Use a linseed oil or similar.