Heron

I recently purchased a Heron in the ultra-lite kevlar version. I have paddled canoes of many other brands and have paddled other Wenonah models including the Aurora and Wilderness solo. I chose the Heron primarily because I wanted a very light weight canoe. I am in my sixties and tired of carrying heavy royalex canoes. But I also wanted a versatile canoe for both solo and tandem use on lakes and rivers. The Heron is only 33 lbs. and very easy to load, unload and carry. In my opinion it is also a very good "all around" canoe. Some would argue that a relatively short (15') and wide-beamed (36") canoe would be very inefficient, tiring to paddle distances, and track poorly. However, given the very sharp entry lines and nicely tapered hull at the bow and stern, I think the Heron is much better than any other 15' canoe as far as glide and efficiency. I find that it tracks surprisingly well when paddling tandem, and with the canoe reversed and paddling solo from the bow seat it tracks fine with a bit of weight up front (my dog works great). Although shorter wider canoes may be more challenging to paddle under windy conditions, the relatively low profile of the Heron (only 13" center depth and 18" bow depth) makes wind much less of an issue. It's primary and secondary stability are also very good for a small canoe. For what I was looking for, Wenonah hit just the right balance for me with the Heron.

I purchases my Heron ROYALEX on a impulse buy. I seen it hanging from a ceiling in a tavern. It is bright Yellow with Linenkugels printed on the bow and Honey Weis Bier on the Stern. I liked the looks of it and thought it was a sin just hanging in the bar. I asked the owner if I could buy it, She said 500.00 "sold" (what a buy this canoe never seen water) I went home got the money and my van. Picked it up and brought it up to my cabin.

My wife and I have zip for experience. We feel very stable in it. Not to tippy at all and tracks fairly well. Our lake is fairly calm, we only take it out when it is calm because of the wind. We fish a lot out of it about 99% of the time. I have a high powered fishing boat so when the wind is up I can afford not to kill myself fighting the wind back to the cabin.

I am a recreational paddler, fishing, and photography is why I own this canoe. When I am not fishing with my wife (5'4" 125lbs) I go with my brother in-law he is 6'6" 250lbs and I an 5'6" 190lbs, we have no problem with my Heron. The only thing I don't like about it is the floor has more flex than I like. I seem to think it would be more efficient to paddle if the floor was firmer.

We take it to different lakes rather than pulling my power boat out of the lake and tow it all over, in and out again and waste 2 hours. I keep the rear seats out of my Caravan all summer and we just put the Heron in the back of it hang on and go. We have 26 lakes within 15 minutes. So we get to experience many different lakes.

I have nothing to compare it to, but no one has complained yet about it. I bought it for fun and exercise and getting close to the Loons for photography and that is what I am getting out of it. Actually the Loons get close to me I just sit still and they pop up within feet of the canoe. It makes for an awesome day.

Sometimes my younger family members come up to the cabin and they take it out for a few hours. With that bright yellow it's not hard to find them on the lake. And they are very visible to larger watercraft. It is a very good quality product. We use it fairly often over the past 3 summers and it still looks great. No real signs of wear and tear other than the reasonable bottom scratches mostly from loading and unloading. It fit's our family needs.

I have had a Royalex Heron for about 4 months and have used it on small lakes and rocky rivers. It is great for just knocking around. I like that it is easy to carry (only 15' long and less than 50 lbs), very maneuverable, has plenty of room, and slides easily over river rocks in shallow spots (I have not had it in anything tougher than an easy Class II). My wife likes that it is short, so we sit closer together than in our 18 footer. It tracks well (especially for a canoe this short), which to me is the most important feature in a canoe because I can pay more attention to our surroundings and less to my stroke. On the downside, it felt tippier than I thought it would for its width, but that was largely because the web seats are mounted higher than I like. I think Wenonah puts the seats up that high so you can fit your feet under them if you decide to kneel, but I have big feet so that was never a possibility. I lowered the seats about 1 inch and they feel more comfortable, are closer to the water, and the boat is more stable. We had to do some experimenting to get the trim right because I have about 90 lbs on my wife. Our preferred setup is for her to sit on some cushions just forward of the bow seat and put the heaviest gear under and just behind the bow seat. That trims us and puts my wife in a narrower part of the canoe where it is easier for her to reach the water. We tried turning it around, with me sitting backwards on the bow seat and her backwards on the stern seat. This put her a little too low in the water for most uses, but worked nicely when going downriver into a strong headwind. I have paddled it solo by kneeling or sitting right at the center thwart. It takes some manhandling to get it going but once moving it tracked much better than I thought it would. I have not soloed it downriver yet, but it is so stable and maneuverable that it seems like it could handle the occasional Class II water solo. I give it a 8 out of 10 because it is good at what it is for, but is not nearly as fast as our 18' cruiser, and I had to lower the seats.

Have taken my new Wenonah Heron to the Oswegatchie River in the Adirondacks, and on a solo trip to Algonquin Park in Canada, amongst other, short trips. On the twisty, turny Oswegatchie River, the Heron was a joy to paddle with my daughter. Other folks we ran into on the trip commented on the fact that we were handling the many turns much more easily than a longer canoe. Excellent secondary stability - I can stand up in it on calm water, and can easily crawl all about the canoe in the middle of the lake, if I'm by myself and need something from the bow. On the solo trip to Algonquin, I removed the stern seat, turned the canoe around, and paddled from the bow seat, as recommended by Wenonah. Obviously, this boat is not a great solo canoe, but it did work quite well for me. The Heron's tracking as a solo canoe is somewhat limited. The canoe felt very seaworthy when the wind came up on one larger lake, and I never felt in danger of capsizing. I have abused the heck out of it already - lots of scratches in the royalex, but the Heron seems to be sturdily built. Awfully heavy for portaging, though! A great boat for someone like myself who needs a tandem, but sometimes wants to solo, and doesn't have the money for kevlar.