A little background- I have been using a canoe owned by my place of employment for my trips to the BW the last 6 or so years. It is a Mad River Explorer- 16' Kevlar, in the pictures below it is the more blue colored canoe. The opportunity to possibly purchase that canoe fairly cheaply has come available. The only potential problem is this- it has some cracks/missing chips through the gelcoat that covers the Kevlar near the skid pad on the stern. I have limited knowledge of how to repair this, and would appreciate any information on how to do so. Maybe this doesn't matter yet, but I'm guessing its only going to get worse over time. There are also plenty of surface and sub surface scratches and fading that I would touch up if possible at some point. I've attached some pictures in hopes that others can help me. The model number on the canoe is MADEX570F898-K. I know the first 5 letters refer to Mad River Explorer, the last K refers to Kevlar. I assume the 898 refers to the date of manufacture (August 1998, but I could be very wrong here). If you can tell anything from the model number or the pics, what do I need to do to fix the coating of this canoe to make it last?

I dunno anything about gel coat repair. Have fixed kevlar skid plate with epoxy and maybe aluminum powder mixed in for black color and some durability. Adding skid plates is pretty straightforward too, though I don't know that what I could see in the picture would warrant that...

Real questions are - how long does it need to last to make the good price worth it for you? Would it still be available for your trips (or an alternate) if you don't buy it now? Are you borrowing it for free and can you keep doing that or do you want something to use for more than a trip a year, or whatever...

For me - THANK YOU for those pics... I now know how I will make a temporary canoe rack by my waterfront with existing stumps and 4x4s. Voila!

quote BWPaddler: "
Real questions are - how long does it need to last to make the good price worth it for you? Would it still be available for your trips (or an alternate) if you don't buy it now? Are you borrowing it for free and can you keep doing that or do you want something to use for more than a trip a year, or whatever...
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Good questions. I am borrowing it for free, although I do pay the MN permit fee since I'm the only one who takes it out of WI. It would likely be available for free as long as I want it to be, although always with the caveat that others may be using it instead of me. I currently use this canoe once yearly (annual BW trip) because it is stored 25 miles from my home. I would like to use it much more often (a second annual trip to Sylvania Wilderness, fishing small water near home, family camping trips etc), which "owning" it would allow me to do.

Man, that's a pretty boat. Explorer is a GREAT multi-purpose hull you'll never regret owning. I agree that nothing jumps out in terms of immediate or even near future repair needs. If you decide to buy it I agree you could use it for quite some time without worrying about repairs. Just curious, what's the price, or did you say and I missed it?

Edit: I took a second look at the booboo in one of the pics. If it were my boat I'd probably just eventually feather some G Flex into/over it, sand smooth when dry then touch up with as close a color matched Krylon as I could find.

Price is still being negotiated, but I can tell you this, it will likely be 1/2 or even 1/3 of what a private owner would likely sell it for in the same condition. One of the perks of my job :)

It'd cost about $40 to repair on your own (Northwest Canoe Gel Coat Repair Kit). If you can get it for $400 or less, I'd get it. Even at $600 it's a heck of a lot cheaper then renting if it becomes unavailable.

I own a '86 Explorer with a few chips in the gel coat and so far I have just covered them with heavy duty (6 mil) tape which has worked just fine.

Just bought a Mad River Explorer the same as the one you use. Its the special addition blue color. I called the company and checked on the serial number. According to them you are reading the number correctly. I paid 800 for it. It also has a small chip in the gel coat on the bow. Have been very busy and have not worked on the chip yet. Did some research and it looks like the gel coat repair kit is the way I will go. I'm also considering using keeleasy on the bow and stern. We will see. As far as using or buying I would buy it if the price is right, and it sounds like it is. I'm just not a fan of using someone else's equipment. Plus you will have it whenever or wherever you want to go!!
Ps. It is also Kevlar. I'm helping my kids in Oregon right know or I would take a picture of it.

I repaired gelcoat with auto bondo. Easy to work with and easy to shape and sand. You then get matching spray paint and it looks ok. The repair is now six or seven years old and the canoe has been paddled at least a 1,000 miles with the repair and has had no problems.