This is what I have:

Boy Scouts going into Snowbank entry #27 for at least 3 days this Aug. The Scouts have not as of yet decided "for sure" if they want to go and the final decision will be made probably early summer so I pulled the permit in my name for 9 people. If the rest of the troop goes, great! If not, my son, his twin sister and I are still going. She lives to fish and was green with envy when we went to the BWCA last year and she missed out.

There will be two 13 year olds in the canoe plus me and, of course, our gear. Currently I have a 23' 4-person Wenonah Minnesota IV weighing in at 64# rented through Piragis. I have always been the type of person that plans for the worst and hopes it gets better from there, thus the mile-long 4-person canoe. I don't want to discover that I didn't have enough room. Three hammocks and packing light will be the plan for the trip.

Odds are I'll be going heavy on the fishing gear. In comparison, I can get a 3-person canoe - 18'5" Souris River Quetico at 46# to a 20'5" Northstar Northwind at 50#. The meat of the question is, do I have 'TOO MUCH" canoe for the trip? The weight isnt the issue, it's the extra freeboard that has me more worried.

The two major players in this story....

The Northwind will work perfectly.

I agree with walleyehunter. The mnlV is a nice well built boat, but it's a lot of boat. You'll spend your entire time turning that darn thing. Haha. Always loved hearing stories of Kendra using one of those. That girl will do anything to not just paddle, but get her girls out there. She'd be a good one to chime in.

If it was me I'd rent one of the 3 person canoes. (Northwind 18 or SR Q 18.5) You will have more than enough space for your gear and it will be much easier to paddle w/ a 13 yo in the bow and much easier to handle on the portages because of the length than the MNIV.

We own an SR Q18.5 and we can fit 2 adults, 2 kids (9 and 11 sitting side by side in 3rd seat) 90lb dog and gear in that thing. You would have no problem fitting you, two 13 yo's, and gear in it.

quote ducks: "If it was me I'd rent one of the 3 person canoes. (Northwind 18 or SR Q 18.5) You will have more than enough space for your gear and it will be much easier to paddle w/ a 13 yo in the bow and much easier to handle on the portages because of the length than the MNIV.


We own an SR Q18.5 and we can fit 2 adults, 2 kids (9 and 11 sitting side by side in 3rd seat) 90lb dog and gear in that thing. You would have no problem fitting you, two 13 yo's, and gear in it."

+ 1

quote walleye_hunter: "The Northwind will work perfectly."

+1

You'll have more than enough room in a 3 person and it will be much more manageable on the water. I'd personally rent a 3 seater Northwind.

quote nctry: "I agree with walleyehunter. The mnlV is a nice well built boat, but it's a lot of boat. You'll spend your entire time turning that darn thing. Haha. Always loved hearing stories of Kendra using one of those. That girl will do anything to not just paddle, but get her girls out there. She'd be a good one to chime in."

The MN IV is overkill in my opinion for your situation. I used this boat, but with 3 kids ages 8,8 and 10 and myself. Mainly because I wanted us together due to their lack of paddling experience at that time. We were also on 7 day trips. Ben is correct. Bugger to turn both on the water and also on portages that aren't real straight. 24 feet of canoe just doesn't bend well around trees! haha!

I did a 7 day in my Northwind tandem 17.5 with two 13 yr old kids and we had enough room for our gear. We didn't have the third seat. The middle kid sat on a pack. We didn't basecamp and moved through some big water just fine.

Another thing to consider .... if you're big on the fishing part, once you unpack your boat and take it out "trolling for lunkers " the shorter boats (again IMO) will be easer to maneuver. Also if the kids want to take the canoe out alone empty... the smaller canoes would be easier for them to handle.

Good Luck!

Northwind

Traveling light with those two, a 3 person canoe is more than enough. A two man can, in fact, is plenty. The Boy Scout standard is 3 scouts per tandem canoe ... and that was with old time, heavy gear.

Well, thanks for all the info...

I down sized to a 3 seat SR Q18.5 ....

I like the idea of less canoe for the both of them to handle... That was one thing I never would have thought of...