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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum Gear Forum How to portage this canoe? |
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06/25/2021 08:54AM
Hey Y'all -
I just inherited an old Wenonah Whitewater 2 canoe from 1977 - it's a fiberglass canoe with a center rib that runs down the middle of the boat.
It has a central thwart rather than a yoke - and the thwart has strut that runs down to the center rib.
I am trying to figure out a way to portage this thing:
Any ideas of portage pads that exist for this? Or do I need to just take out the whole thwart and put in a wooden yoke? (The center strut might still be in the way thought)
I just inherited an old Wenonah Whitewater 2 canoe from 1977 - it's a fiberglass canoe with a center rib that runs down the middle of the boat.
It has a central thwart rather than a yoke - and the thwart has strut that runs down to the center rib.
I am trying to figure out a way to portage this thing:
Any ideas of portage pads that exist for this? Or do I need to just take out the whole thwart and put in a wooden yoke? (The center strut might still be in the way thought)
06/25/2021 02:23PM
I'd suggest replacing the thwart, removing the shock absorber. The shock absorber will hit the back of your head if you try to do anything with the existing thwart (aside from raising the pads an extra 12"). The center rib w/o one shock absorber will probably be ok. If not, you could make the shock absorber removable for the portages. I have a 16' C1W with the center rib and no shock absorbers, and haven't noticed any flex.
06/26/2021 04:32PM
gnomeastay: "Thanks for the replies - Sounds like it's gonna be a bit of a project. "
Shouldn't be bad. I've replaced straight aluminum thwarts with wood on a Clipper. Just drill out the pop rivets, cut the wood thwart to size (and seal the ends), and bolt it directly on. Or, you could make an aluminum plate, bolt it on the wood thwart, and pop rivet the plate to the gunwale. Contoured ash thwarts are about $30, then you can add whatever pads you want (I'd avoid blue foam glued to the thwart for 6km portages with a 72 lb boat--I'm smarter now, thank goodness).
If you want to keep the shock absorbers, you could probably just loosen one end of the shock absorber and lay it down for head clearance, but I doubt it's needed. The boat was built for (ww) racing, so it is probably overdesigned for BWCA.
07/02/2021 03:43PM
gnomeastay: "Hey Y'all -
I just inherited an old Wenonah Whitewater 2 canoe from 1977 - it's a fiberglass canoe with a center rib that runs down the middle of the boat.
It has a central thwart rather than a yoke - and the thwart has strut that runs down to the center rib.
I am trying to figure out a way to portage this thing:
Any ideas of portage pads that exist for this? Or do I need to just take out the whole thwart and put in a wooden yoke? (The center strut might still be in the way thought)"
First of all, that's a cool old canoe. 1977 was the first year that the Whitewater II was produced. It was Gene Jensen's first dedicated downriver racing design and is a forerunner of the Minnesota II and many other Jensen designs.
I've paddled a Whitewater X in center rib with only the bow shock absorber in place. It was a little flexy but not bad. You should be fine pulling the center shock and installing a yoke.
We install yokes using small aluminum brackets that slide up between the hull of the canoe and the inside of the gunwale. We cut the yoke about 1/4" short so we can leave a little space between the end of the yoke and bracket. The yoke is bolted to the bracket, fitted into the canoe and adjusted for balance. Then it's secured with three 1/2" rivets drilled through the outside of the canoe, through the bracket and into the end of the yoke.
We usually have brackets, bolts and rivets for sale in a kit, but we're very low on brackets right now and have paused selling them. You may be able to make your own from aluminum angle. We'll try to get them back up for sale on our website as soon as possible.
Enjoy that canoe. I'm sure it has some stories to tell!
Brian from Wenonah
Brian Day Wenonah Canoe www.kitchi-gami.com
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