BWCA Wenonah Jensen or Adirondack? Boundary Waters Listening Point - General Discussion
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      Wenonah Jensen or Adirondack?     
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sadikshyaaryal
  
04/18/2022 09:58PM  
I saw two Wenonahs for $1500 on craigslist and I am wondering which one to go with. It is the same seller but he has a 17 Jensen Tufweave as well as an Adirondack. I am wondering which one would be best to go with? Especially on bigger open lakes with potential for choppy water like Brule.
 
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YetiJedi
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04/18/2022 10:53PM  
If you are looking at tripping with potentially rough water, I would go with the Adirondack. I paddled one once and I've never been in a Jensen so I'm not an expert. Looking at the specs, however, I think the Adirondack will be more stable and have more capacity. Downside...I don't think it will track as well as the Jensen.

If you can go give them a paddle, when the ice thaws, that might be your best route. The other option is always to find the model you like and look for good deals.

Good luck with the decision...hope you get the best canoe for you!
 
Z4K
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04/18/2022 11:49PM  
What's the layup of the Jensen? I've owned both, they're both fine flat water canoes. Wenonah pumps the Adirondack as a 'performance touring' boat but my memory says it's slower and more forgiving than the Jensen. However, my memory isn't the best and honestly I didn't know a whole lot about canoes when I had the Jensen. If I owned 0 canoes and was mostly interested in bigger water like Brule I would choose the Jensen assuming they're the same layup. The Adirondack is much better suited for solo work IMO, if that's a consideration.
 
RedLakePaddler
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04/19/2022 02:45PM  
We had a Wenonah 18’ Jensen which we paddled all over the BWCA. While the Jensen 17 is an inch wide at the 4” water line I would expect them to handle similar. The bow is very narrow and wouldn’t lift in heavy waves, it would knife threw them. The depth was very shallow making it’s capacity less. It was a good canoe for smaller people. If our Jensen was a ultralight it would still be hanging in the garage. I would think the Adirondack would be the better of the two, but neither would be a canoe I would want to paddle in heavy water.
You can find the spec’s for the Jensen 17 under retired canoe models on the Wenonah website.

Carl
 
sadikshyaaryal
  
04/19/2022 08:29PM  
Thanks all, this is really helpful to think through given the tracking of both. We also ended up finding a Spirit 2 today and are leaning more towards that but it does seem heavier than both the Jensen and Adirondack. In the low-70s.
 
zehyani
member (28)member
  
04/21/2022 09:06PM  
i think lighter is better. I would also look at a wenonah MN2 in ultralight layup. Portaging gets harder as you age, and a boat seems to gain about 10 lbs every decade.

If you are in the twin cities, many people have different Wenonah's. the minnesota canoe association is a good resource. They have a group called rookie racers thatt will meet at 5.45 pm mondays starting may 9 on the west side of Cedar lake in minneapolis. They have Jensen 18s and a lot of people have mn2's.

Either way, I would paddle before buying.
good luck
 
Porkeater
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04/28/2022 08:24AM  
I own an Adirondack, and have rented Spirit 2's in the past. I think the Spirit 2 is a much choice for a tripping boat. The Adirondack is light and paddles very well, but with 2 people and a week's worth of gear, it does not have much of a margin of safety for heavy waves.
 
BrianDay
distinguished member (136)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/29/2022 10:42AM  
sadikshyaaryal: "I saw two Wenonahs for $1500 on craigslist and I am wondering which one to go with. It is the same seller but he has a 17 Jensen Tufweave as well as an Adirondack. I am wondering which one would be best to go with? Especially on bigger open lakes with potential for choppy water like Brule."


Neither of those models are ideal wilderness trippers. If I had to choose between the two I would probably go with the Adirondack, because it has a little more depth. But both are really day-trippers or weekend boats. The Jensen 17 is a fast cruiser and the Adirondack is a stable day tripper.

The Spirit II you mentioned farther down in the thread is a better choice for BWCA trips. Ideally in ultralight aramid construciton.

There are lots of canoes coming up for sale all the time, if you are patient you're likely to find something better suited to wilderness tripping than the Adirondack and Jensen 17.

Best wishes,

Brian from Wenonah
 
IowaGuy
distinguished member (104)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/29/2022 02:09PM  
Sprit II.

I have an old Royalex Sprit II that has 10 BWCA/Quetico trips under its belt. Bought it used from an outfitter over 20 years ago and it is still going strong! (I also use it often on rivers)

Excellent primary stability for fishing and pretty good speed/tracking given all the stability...

You're not going to set any speed records in it, but a Spirit II would be my choice for a 2-person BWCA canoe that you are going to be doing a lot of fishing out of and/or having unpredictable kids in...
 
04/29/2022 02:21PM  
I’ve had a Tufweave Spirit 11 for about 20 years. Never felt the need to get another boat besides my Prism solo. Took it to BW at least 15 times. Bought it for $700 back then. Looked on the Wenonah website, they go for a tad more than that now, I think they might be discontinued but a nice used one would be a good option. Here’s a pic of my custom paint job, got a little beat up from all the trips and the old gel coat repair I used didn’t match the paint which made it ugly. Shame cuz I really liked the Ivory color but I think it looks pretty cool now.

 
BrianDay
distinguished member (136)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/29/2022 02:43PM  
scat: "I’ve had a Tufweave Spirit 11 for about 20 years. Never felt the need to get another boat besides my Prism solo. Took it to BW at least 15 times. Bought it for $700 back then. Looked on the Wenonah website, they go for a tad more than that now, I think they might be discontinued but a nice used one would be a good option. Here’s a pic of my custom paint job, got a little beat up from all the trips and the old gel coat repair I used didn’t match the paint which made it ugly. Shame cuz I really liked the Ivory color but I think it looks pretty cool now.

"


Wow!
 
04/29/2022 03:29PM  
Brian - Was hoping you would see that. I wanted to do that for a long time and when my boat needed a fresh coat of paint I went for it. Get some looks and compliments. Don't think you'll be offering that as an option, but I like it! Always been a Wenonah guy, for 20 + years never let me down. I have a burgandy Prism also, love that boat too, would never change. She's got a bit of patina as well.

 
BrianDay
distinguished member (136)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/29/2022 03:34PM  
scat: "Brian - Was hoping you would see that. I wanted to do that for a long time and when my boat needed a fresh coat of paint I went for it. Get some looks and compliments. Don't think you'll be offering that as an option, but I like it!"


Love it. And if you're ever racing somebody to the last site on the lake you've definitely got some intimidation factor going for you!

Brian
 
04/29/2022 03:51PM  
Added some pics and a comment or two. I'm very brand loyal, when I have a good thing I stay with it. Glad you like it. Wenonahs rock!
 
sadikshyaaryal
  
04/29/2022 04:56PM  
This is awesome! I think after reading all that you all have said, I'm probably going to hold out for a nice Spirit II. It looks like some of the Outfitters have some nice ones left after the end of the season. We just acquired an old Grumman, so that will hold us over until we can get the one we want.
 
BrianDay
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04/30/2022 05:52AM  
scat: "Added some pics and a comment or two. I'm very brand loyal, when I have a good thing I stay with it. Glad you like it. Wenonahs rock!"


Great pics. That Prism looks like its seen some miles! Thanks Scat.
 
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