Any one have one?
I could not find any information on this, please help, thanks Tom
the add, what is this worth?
Solo, We-no-nah 15’ 6" RED FIBERGLASS W/Aluminum frame. Center seat is molded fiberglass on an aluminum rail for easy adjustment. Comes with double paddle with extra tubes for adjusting the length. Light weight easy to handle well balanced, weighs about 35lbs. One person can easily load and unload.
MADE BY: Winona Canoes, in Winona, MN. 55987 MDL: Solitude Ser:# SL149B484
what I know
I used to own a Solitude and it is no where near 35 lbs in fiberglass (tuffweave) - try mid to upper 40s.
It depends on the condition, age, usage, and storage conditions.
I would be pretty comfortable to offer $500 give or take for one in good condition that isn’t too old.
Basically the Solitude is a decent flatwater canoe that is very stable, ok in efficiency, and fairly wide compared to some other solos (if I remember right it had a max beam of around 31 or 30").
more info
Peace or performance; you decide. In a phrase, that’s the Solitude: a solo that one person handles easily on or off the water. It’s great for sightseeing or day outings, even short trips if you’re small or travel light. The Solitude delivers a suitable blend of features for all the most popular types of canoeing. It has excellent stability – and even good capacity for a fairly small canoe. We build the Solitude using Ultra-light core or Flex-core construction from Kevlar® (33 or 43 lb.) or from Tuf-weave® (41 or 49 lb.). We often recommend the Tuf-weave Flex-core version because it has our extra-strong, Kevalr-reinforced lay-up which, combined with fine performance, low cost, and light weight makes a very attractive package.
I think this is what the wenonah website used to say.
Early Solittudes
The present choices of layups are not the same as what was offered in the 80’s. The flexcore layups did not exist, and the Center-rib and Extra-Stiffened are no longer used.
Wenonah did make PVC-Core Stiffened, now called Ultra-Light, in both fiberglass and kevlar. In the solo boats the core-glass was a very light layup, but i don’t believer 35#. I had a center-rib glass Solitude with gel-coat that was close to 50#.
The interior of the canoe will tell you which layup and material. The center-rib has just that, a rib running down the center of the canoe, like an interior keel. If there are ribs down the sides, its core-stiffened. If no ribs, its an extra-stiffened, the heaviest. In glass the interiors were a grey paint, sort of a speckle. In kelvar they were not colored.
Somewhere after 1990 the hull was revised. The gunwales were pulled in a lot, narrowing the paddling station. Waterline shape is the same.
It is a good stable canoe that is faster than anything that equals its stability, and more stable than anything as fast. It is another good Jensen design, but one where the emphasis is not on speed, but all around function. Sort of the solo version of the Spirit.
If this canoe has an aluminum framed seat glassed into the hull its not too old. If it has wood slats glassed into the hull, with the seat frame fastened to the wood slats, its an early Solitude.
$5oo for a good one in glass is reasonable, for Kevlar its a steal.
Bill
There was a Wenonah
Moccasin Solo for sale near me a week ago. I emailed Wenonah’s customer service, and they emailed me a Word doc with the specs. That ought to help.
Plus, you can email them the serial number to confirm how old it is, etc. They were very quick- responded to me within an hour or so.
Tracy
Solitude Story
Mike Galt, of fond memory, was teaching a solo class in FL a couple decades ago. One of the students had a Solitude, and was getting pretty frustrated trying to drive it in a straight line, Mike tried the thing himself and couldn’t make it track either.
A few months later, he paid a courtesy call on Gene Jensen, also of fond memory. There in the back yard was a Solitude with a surf board skeg bonded to the stern. Mike asked Gene about it - He replied he couldn’t get the boat to track without it.
Solitude is a very de-tuned and hence stable delta hull that retains the handling characteristics of that shape. At recreational speeds the bow won’t draw so the stern must skid.
more questions
Thanks for all the replys
can anyone tell me how much weight it will hold, myself 225 and how much gear?
I have e-mailed wenonah with the hin# but no answer yet.
Thanks Tom
same
I am about the same size. I would keep the total weight to around 300. It can handle a little more, but it got a little sluggish for me.
interior ?
(Plaid Paddler) wrote
The interior of the canoe will tell you which layup and material. The center-rib has just that, a rib running down the center of the canoe, like an interior keel. If there are ribs down the sides, its core-stiffened. If no ribs, its an extra-stiffened, the heaviest. In glass the interiors were a grey paint, sort of a speckle. In kelvar they were not colored.
I have only seen pictures of the canoe, but the hull is red and the inside is red also but not as finished (shiney) as the outside, as for the rib, it has one down the center on the inside, and it a brown/tan color, so I still don’t know what is made of.
Wenonah sent an e-mail, but it did not tell me anything that was not said here by the great p-net people.
Kevlar
From your discription of the photos i will put my B.E.G. on Kevlar. Center-rib Kevlar. The tan that you see on the rib is the interior kevlar cloth. The red that you see on the sides is the gel coat red showing thru the thin kevlar sides. Assuming the photos were taken in bright sunlight, the gel coat would show thru on the sides. A glass hull would show the gelcoat thru the sides, but every glass hull of that vintage with gelcoat was painted inside, usually grey.
Bill
Solitude
boats are still made by Clipper, you can find the specs on their website.
Paul
Canoe’s Age
There isn’t neccessarily any wrong with an old canoe. I have a 1990 Sawyer Autumn Mist that is in excellent condition. However it was only used twice and then stored in a basement.
It looks like the Solitude is 24 years old. Make sure you check it out and ask how it was stored.
I have a couple 20+ year old Sawyers
that are probably as solid as the day they were built. They appear to have been stored always out of the weather.
I wouldn’t let a composite boat’s age deter me from buying it if it looked to be in good condition and was a model I wanted.
I don’t have any experience with old ultra-light boats with foam cores, so I can’t comment on them.
I got the Solitude
Went saturday and picked up the canoe, it is kevlar, and in good overall shape for a 20+ year old boat, I will need to add some type of protection to the bow, any ideas? Also got the canoe for $400, I think it was a good deal.
Great Buy
Don’t worry about the bow needing reinforcement. If it is worn thru just the gelcoat, just recoat that with red from a Wenonah dealer. If there is damage from impact, unless the kevlar is broken, just fill with vinylester resin and gelcoat over.
That is a very strong layup, meant for downriver usage, there are multiple layers of kevlar reinforcing strips down the bow and along the keel.
Enjoy your truly a bargain canoe. Twice what you paid would have been still been a bargain.
Bill