Info on Voyageur North’s Rental Watercraft
The Quetico 17’ is Alumacraft’s lightweight 63 pound canoe. It has been the work horse of the outfitting industry. It is one of the best all around canoes that there is. It makes a great fishing platform, carrying gear and people safely. The built-in carrying yoke is the best in the business.
The Quetico 18.5’ is a lightweight 70 pound canoe that has been used as a three person canoe ever since it was made. With its outside keel, it is very stable. It is also good for hauling big loads for long periods of time.
The Voyageur 17’ Ultralight by Alumacraft is just 56 pounds. This canoe is the best compromise, it has great balance and very lightweight. The yoke is positioned in the middle of the canoe’s weight so perfectly that it portages as well as most Kevlar canoes. The outside cruising keel makes it very stable for fishing and bad weather. The lower profile makes it easy to paddle in the wind.
ThePenobscot15’ is an Old Town Royalex solo canoe that can hold up to 625 pounds with a dry weight of only 49 pounds. The Penobscot features Old Town’s unique adjustable center seat/carry system. Simply slide the cane seat back to its paddling position, or to the forward position where it serves as a comfortable carrying yoke.
The Penobscot 16’ is a versatile Old Town Royalex canoe that holds up to 860 pounds in its 16’2” frame. With a weight of 58 pounds, the Penobscot 16 is a fine tandem canoe and can even be equipped with a center seat for solo performance or for taking on an extra passenger. Its straight-on speed, handling ease, and capacity are exactly what an all-around performance canoe should be.
The Penobscot 17’ is the premier Old Town Royalex design for paddling ease and quickness; the muscle to handle1,100 pounds of paddlers and gear. Yet, the Penobscot 17 weighs in at an easily transportable 65 pounds. With a width of 35” and a depth of 14.5”, you’ll enjoy the comfort and paddling ease of this high performance tandem canoe.
The Wenonah Prism can also be called “the Sundowner solo” because it works well for just about everybody. Weighing in at 35 pounds, the Prism is 16.5’ long and has a center depth of 13” and a gunwale width of 26”. It has the stability needed by beginners, the efficiency expected by experts, and the volume needed for tripping.
The Wenonah Spirit II Kevlar & ABS. The Spirit II is 17’ long, which is a good compromise between the performance of a longer hull and maneuverability of a short one. It is safe and roomy, with enough capacity for medium-heavy trips. Carry 2 large people, it draws just3”, leaving lots of reserve free board and volume. Weight is 43pounds. This design is our choice for fly in trips and nests inside an18’Champlain for there is just one external load on a floatplane.
The 18-foot Wenonah Champlain is a very large, all-purpose model. Width is 36.5 inches and Ithasa center depth of 13.5 inches. This is Wenonah’s largest tandem except for the Itasca. It has excellent stability due to its size and shallow-arched hull. It has a little more volume than the Minnesota II. This canoe allows the Spirit II to nest inside for fly in trips.
The Wenonah Escape, 17’6” is a compact version of the Minnesota II. For many paddlers the new Escape may be the perfect tandem canoe. They based the design of the Escape upon their popular Minnesota II. The Escape is an extremely efficient design in a more compact package than the Minnesota II. With similar lines as the Minnesota II, the Escape delivers excellent performance in a wide variety of paddling conditions. To keep the canoe dry in choppy waters, they added an extra inch of depth to the bow and stern. Combined with the flared bow, this canoe is dry in almost every paddling situation. Kevlar Ultra-light version is 40 pounds; the Kevlar-Fiberglass Flex-Core version weighs just 52 pounds.
Boundary Waters – 17’0’’– 41 pounds Kevlar Ultra-light. This new touring canoe offers a unique blend of excellent stability & easy paddling. Extra fullness throughout the middle gives this canoe extra capacity. The bow & stern height are kept low to catch less wind. Use it by yourself, with the family, or to take it through waves with confidence. Fishermen and families alike will appreciate its extra stability & surprising capacity for a 17 foot canoe. With this great capacity, this canoe will be well suited for an afternoon paddle or a two week trip. A very versatile canoe!
The Wenonah Minnesota II is the premier Kevlar canoe for long trips in lake regions. Our Ultra-light version weighs just 42 pounds and is 18.5 feet long. This Jensen-designed canoe is widely acclaimed by the dedicated paddlers, professional guides and park rangers of the lake country as the ideal canoe for lengthy trips. Made to use where week long outings are typical, Wenonah gave this design high capacity and sea worthiness. It will hold two people with heavy gear and still cope well with lake waves. Best of all -and the reason it’s so popular in the North -is that the Minnesota II has unmatched performance when loaded. Built in the Ultra-light Kevlar version, it will make you look forward to the portages! Canoe & Kayak Magazine noted that, “Apart from its superb final stability, the best feature is how it returns to course in waves. Its performance in choppy conditions was impressive, and the canoe retained its glide even with a load.” Its superb performance and straight tracking also make the Minnesota II ideal to paddle lightly-loaded merely for the enjoyment of traveling swiftly.
The Wenonah Minnesota III is a Kevlar Ultra Light 20 feet long, 49 pounds. Regulations for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area limit group size to nine, but with no more than four canoes. Thus at least one canoe must carry three people. Wenonah designed the Minnesota 3 to carry three people, to be paddled by three, and to hold gear for three. This hull is unique and has amazing performance. Even heavily loaded it travels faster with less effort than any tandem canoe. More than allowing nine people into the BWCA, this design enhances many types of trips farther, faster, making deep-wilderness trips practical in less time. It is also good for trips that include a third person that won’t be paddling. Since this canoe is very large, and will often be portaged, they make it only in the lightest-yet-strongest way - their premier, “Kevlar Ultra-light” construction. The Minnesota III has a sliding bow seat, and two fixed stern seats. The middle seat is aft of center to give its occupant a good paddle reach, and so the seat doesn’t hinder mounting a yoke in the center. Apart from trips, this is also a fine cruising canoe for family of three, especially a family with a child who wants to paddle. The middle web seat is also capable of holding two small children, one next to the other.
The Minnesota IV is 23 feet long, 35 inches wide, and weighs 62 pounds. The longer a canoe is, the faster it is and this canoe will fly across the lakes! It is faster, more stable and the largest capacity canoe used in the BWCA & Quetico. It has four seats, the two center seats are web seats, and the end ones are sliding bucket seats. This is a great canoe for a family of four, a true Voyageur canoe!
Quetico 16 Solo -Kevlar the Quetico 16 tandem that has been so popular now has a solo version. It is only 42 pounds, and 16’2”. Basically the same dimensions as the original but Souris River has removed a seat and placed the solo seat more towards the middle. The original was used often as a solo and this model should be even better!
The Quetico 16 at 16.2 ft long and only 49# is new from Souris Canoes. Novice and experienced paddlers alike will love this canoe. It was designed to be very stable and track straight. We were pleased to discover how fast it is, particularly for a 16 foot canoe. This canoe is good for fishing, day trips and even for trips taken for two weeks. Another unexpected discovery we made during our testing of this design is that it is an exceptional solo canoe. It is extremely versatile and does many things well. It is made out of a new material called Duralite which is almost as light as Kevlar but much tougher. It is made from an epoxy resin system but not as expensive as Kevlar.
Souris River Quetico 17. At 17 ft long it is a lot roomier than the Quetico 16. It handles rough water like a dream, tracks and turns well, and is good for inexperienced paddlers. There is a good amount of freeboard even when carrying a load. This canoe comes in both Kevlar (42#) and in Duralite (50#).
The Souris River Quetico 18.5. After the great success of the Quetico 17, new for 2000, Souris River had decided to come out with an even larger volume boat. This boat tracks and turns well, handles large waves plus carries large loads for extended trips or if a third person in added.
The Yukon Expedition is another great design. It features a slightly raised trihedral deck for more volume, stability and consistent tracking. It is just 14.5’ long which is shorter than the Seayak. This makes it easier to maneuver in rivers and tight situations. It has a volume of 122 gallons which is 21 gallons larger than the Seayak. This added volume does add weight to the kayak(weight is 59#) but also increases the amount of gear you can carry with you.
The Kodiak is a slender, fast touring craft ideal for extended self-supported expeditions. In order to make your trips as comfortable as possible, Prijon has equipped the Kodiak with a 92 cm cockpit and adjustable ergonomic seat and thigh braces. Both watertight dry storage compartments provide maximum space for your gear. Binoculars, water bottles, sunglasses and your compass are safe and easily accessible in the deck netting. Length is 17’, weight is 62 pounds.
New Canoe from Wenonah
Wenonah Canoe introduces the Seneca, their second model specifically designed for three paddlers. The largest member of Wenonah’s modestly rockered, tripping canoe family; the Seneca is highly maneuverable, while maintaining great initial stability and freeboard. The increased initial stability makes the Seneca a solid hook-setting platform for three aggressive anglers. The Seneca also offers the speed and efficiency that will allow three developing paddlers to match the pace of even the most powerful tandem canoe team. Serving as an alternative to the tag along solo canoe, the Seneca is designed with that extra camper in mind. Designed specifically as a BWCAW campsite maximizer, the Seneca allows for that 9th group member to comfortably tag along while complying with the 4 boats and 9 campers per group regulation. Whether it is to create room for that extra friend or make space for two larger paddlers with massive amounts of gear, the Seneca will bring peace and harmony to all larger paddling groups, as well as being great for a leisurely paddle with the whole family. The Seneca is currently available in Wenonah’s industry leading Kevlar Ultra-light livery lay up and silver trim. Length is 19’4”, weight is 55 lbs, width is 38”, bow & stern depth is 22”, center depth is 14” and the rocker is 2”.
