Our crew is in need of another canoe and with five grandkids now going on trips, we are going to be getting a used 3-seater from one of the Ely Outfitters.

We've narrowed it down to two: Wenonah Seneca or Northstar B19

I've heard from some fellow BWCA.com members that I couldn't go wrong with either one and I tend to agree. Bringing this to the entire forum to get your pros and cons of each based on personal use. Thanks.

Blessings

What do you have now? If you like it, get another if possible at a price you want to afford. If you are thinking of changing, start by talking to the outfitter for their assessment of what you should get. Opinions here would be my third choice for you to obtain information following your own opinion and the outfitter opinion. However, you can mix in chimmers opinion and give various weight percentages to the 3 mentioned ways to decide and let the results determine your purchase. Should all be good.

I paddled a B19 this year and couldnt be happier. I would note the front seat of a Seneca is a sliding operation, if I’m not mistaken. Our crew did not like that.

We currently have a Northstar Northwind 17 and a Mad River 16. Both have done great for us.
The Wenona Seneca that we are looking at has a bench seat in the front so all three are bench seats.
The outfitters handle both and have shared that they both are great canoes for three people. The price we are getting from one of the outfitters for the Seneca is hard to beat so we are leaning that way.

Had zero issues w/ a rental Seneca on a few different week long trips. 3 people and gear or just 2 and day trip or fishing it did well. No experience w/ the other

B19 is basically a prospector style canoe which is really loved by Canadians. Canadians love them for lots of reasons but they are good on lakes and rivers. The length of that canoe won’t help it on rivers though. The other upside to the B19 is how much it can carry for weight.

Ryan

The B19 seemed heavier than I expected. Of course, I'm not as young as I once was. We were paddling on a slightly shallow Moose River, so not much to judge for big water paddling. It did feel pretty stable with a busy 9 yr old in the middle seat. Stable fishing from it too. Just my 2 cents

Bear Paulsen, the general manager over at Northstar Canoes, recently made a youtube video on this very topic. Great information, as with all his videos. You can watch it HERE.

Comfort was more important for me then speed so I went with a Quetico 3 man. It has a lot more leg room in the front.