Sorry hit wrong key,
I am taking an extremely novice paddler and first time canoe camper with me to Insula via Lake One. I own a Wenonah MN II and am concerned about stability in rough water. I have never been on a wind swept lake with some one so new to this type of travel. I am considering renting a Wenonah Boundary Waters for this trip. Is the Boundary Waters canoe more stable especially on rough water compared to my MN II?

I prefer this one

I have a Kevlar and I am picking up a Souris River duralite next weekend...

I have/love the Boundary waters canoe. I have used it when others in the group used a MNII. In my opinion the Boundary waters is the better canoe. The boundary waters seemed to handle the wind and waves better but that was probably just me?

Nick,
The Wenonah Champlain will take care of your concerns with stability, it is basically a wider taller version of the Min2, it's 6" shorter, and only 2 pounds heavier. I have owned one for a couple years and wouldn't want to trade it for anything in the big waters. It tracks pretty well for a bigger boat too.

The Boundary Waters is basically a shorter version of the Champlain, on the plus side you would give up a couple pounds of weight, but at the cost of giving away some room, and tracking.

Heck, if you have a MN II I'd bring it. I've been paddling one for 13 years and it'll handle just about anything. I took my wife on her first BW trip out of EP 30 with it. We went all the way to Alice in one day. The Boundary Waters may be a better fishing platform, but on big water you can hardly beat a MN II. I wouldn't waste my money renting if I already had a very capable canoe.

I agree with Mr. Barley. I also own a MN II, and have paddled it in some fairly difficult situations. IMO the most important thing is knowing your own canoe. Also, on that route there are not many vast stretches of water to cross. You can usually work your way through, using islands and shorelines to stay out of the worst of the wind and waves.

I would agree that a MN II is a great boat, stable when loaded and quite able to handle wind/waves, BUT a relative newbie might feel uncomfortable with the "feel" of a MN II in the bow.

I think the Boundary Waters would be a good step to making them feel more comfortable. I also agree the Champlain is even better, the Wenonah website cites it as an upsized version of theie 17-foot Spirit II, a very stable and comfortable boat.

If possible, get the novice out in the MN II prior to the trip, with a bit of a load if possible, for some training as a paddling team, portage methods, etc. We do this with our BW newbies and they always appreciate the opportinity to get a handle on what they need to do and know prior to actually getting there.

humm?

Take the II.

I'd take that canoe anywhere, no worries.

I agree with everyone above who said just take the MN II. While it may feel a bit tippy to a novice paddler, it can handle some rough conditions well. Once you load it down, the initial stability firms up a bit too. We've had ours out on Lake Superior in less than ideal situations (close to shore), and we didn't have any problems.

Winemaker is spot on with the idea to do some practice runs before your trip with the canoe loaded and your partner along. I did this with my buddy last year who is a novice, and it helped immensely. He was very happy to have gotten a feel for the boat before heading out on a trip in it.

Yup, take the II. It is tippy especially to tall peoples. My daughter (5' 10") and I (6' 4") hit North bay with 4 footers to our side a couple years ago. It was by far my closest dance with death. However, we both dropped to our knees while paddling and the whole tippy thing disappeared. We still took a a lot of water and my shorts were full, but the scare was gone.

Your shorts were full?????? Was there itching when everything dried? (Sorry,couldn't resist...)

personally, I would start by taking your novice out in your II on a good calm day so that they can get a feel for it. then do it on a blustery day, it's April we should have a few of them coming up. only then can you and your novice make the decision on what type of canoe. definitely one of the most important things I have learned from my B-dub trips, is that what is stable for one person can be a potential ship wreck for another.

Basically my point is, set up your novice to succeed and enjoy the B-dub and not to be miserable or disgruntled because they can not handle their canoe.

You should be just fine in a MN II. I agree with others, get it out a few times and paddle it, preferably with your trip partner, to get comfortable.

If that doesn't resolve your concerns I would suggest a Souris River Quetico 17. This canoe is very stable and handles rough water well. Personally, I think its the perfect canoe for Boundary Waters paddling.

Oh yeah, they were full. But there was so much water in the canoe, we were all cleaned up by the time we hit shore.

I've taken the MN11 thru most everything and lived to tell about it!

I also agree with taking the MNII. It is a very capable canoe. Anything that it could not handle is probably not something you would want to attempt with a novice paddler no matter which canoe you are paddling.

Thank you all for your input, especially the part about going for a test run with my newbie friend. I have never paddled and camped with any one as new as my friend is to all of it(not even my own kids) and the idea of a test run never crossed my mind. We will definitely head out on the water next weekend. Once again thank you all.

Wenonah makes a Minnesota 11 now? ;-) Must be a long sucker! (Sorry dl. LOL )

hahahaha

we used to always rent a Champlain. you can load it to the gills, stand in it, lean over and dunk your head in the lake and not tip, heck you could have a party in it. but we rent a mn 2 now and would rather be in that then the champlain in a storm just because the fact of the champlain will move alot more on cross waves and winds. the mn 2 will track better and you still wont sink if a few waves come over.

Nick,

There's one other thing I forgot to mention that worked well when I was introducing a friend to canoeing. He's 6'4", 220, and I paddle a MN II.

He started in the bow on one of our paddles around a local lake, as that's where he'd be paddling on our trip we'd be taking a couple months down the road. I could tell he was tight, nervous, and not enjoying himself.

I remembered the first time I paddled from the front of a performance canoe. It can be difficult to get a sense of control over the canoe for a novice in the bow - especially in a "tippy" canoe. What my friend didn't realize is that "tippy" also translates to being highly controllable and seaworthy when the lake gets rough. I suggested we switch seats for a while so he could get a feel for steering (so that he could take his turn in trolling me around while fishing on our trip). After he had his feel for the boat from the stern, he was much more comfortable because he felt like we weren't the victims of a "tippy" canoe but actually were in control of a performance canoe.

The more you can paddle together before your trip, the more you'll really enjoy paddling that canoe in the BWCA.

In the end, it won't matter so much which canoe you use up there. As long as you're comfortable paddling together you'll have a great time. Enjoy the trip.

Test Runs, Test Runs, Test Runs!

The Boundary waters is a great canoe, as the name kinda implies it is basically meant to be the perfect bwca canoe. To start it is very light (41 lbs almost like a cloud) it is also a very stable canoe, you could almost stand in it in calm waters.

Got it Jackfish!

Tough crowd!

Does this mean I have to start reading what I type?!