Hello, in my search for my first real canoe that is affordable to me. Knowing no one personally that I can run deals off of. I was hoping to get some opinions on this boat. $1575.00 completely refinished and weighs #48

I'm not super current on prices, but the boat looks good to me. Since it has been refinished, one question I would have relates to the skid guards. I would ask if they are factory or were put on before the refinish job. If so, great. If they were done later, I would ask if they are covering up any damage.
Given the rest of the images, I wouldn't be too worried either way, but I would want to know.

Edit: I zoomed in closer and there's an area on the photo marked "9 of 10" that looks questionable. It's just up and to the right of center. I can't tell if it's lighting, or if there are cracks or scratches that were epoxied over. If they are scratches, no big deal. I just can't tell from the photo.

That is a Bell produced after Ted sold the company to ORC. They had no knowledge of what they were doing, and they had well known issues with quality control. I personally would never buy a Bell from that time period (2006-2011).

On the second to last picture (I am by no means an expert) looks like there is numerous stress damage to the bottom of the canoe. I'd push on the bottom and and see if it oil cans or if you feel weak spots where it pops in and out. It might just be cosmetic but could have structural issues affecting performance.

T

davemcgov: "Edit: I zoomed in closer and there's an area on the photo marked "9 of 10" that looks questionable. It's just up and to the right of center. I can't tell if it's lighting, or if there are cracks or scratches that were epoxied over. If they are scratches, no big deal. I just can't tell from the photo."

Good eye, and I don't think it's the lighting--a couple spots appear to be complete separation of the outer fabric layer. I wouldn't touch it.

TZ

Yeah it definitely looks like something serious happened. I think it's safe to say that unless you or somebody you can bring with are knowledgeable in Kevlar repair and can determine the severity of the problem, you should probably stay away from that one.

My first reaction was to tell you to grab it because the Northwoods is my all time favorite. I’d wait for another one to come around in this case. That’s a pretty rough looking bottom. A better one will pop up within a couple hundred bucks of this one.

That said, if you can get it for closer to $1000, you can sell it for that pretty quickly if that better one comes around. Buy this one to hold you over. It costs nothing to list it on Craigslist.

Good luck!

You can buy a brand new Northwind 17 in the Twin Cities today for less than $3000. Piragis will sell you a refurbished NW 17 with one summer of use for $2400.

This boat is 16 years old. If it had a few scratches or clean repairs, for $1500 I'd go for it. But this looks rough for "completely refinished."

Here's a link to the original posting and another view of the bottom of the hull.

Agree with the recent posts. Don't touch this one. Those definitely look like stress fractures in the bottom. Also, the fact that they "refinished" the inside of the canoe entirely is not only a poor decision but it tells me that they are trying to hide something as well as to add some strength and integrity on the bottom. Absolutely stay away from this one. Keep looking at outfitters and purchase one that is one or two years old for under $2500. I purchased a Northstar Northwind 17 from Rockwood for $1950 that was two years old and it was a fabulous buy. It's always fun to work on your canoe but the most important thing is that the structural integrity is intact. Sadly this canoe doesn't look like it has that.

Onwards and upwards…!

I appreciate the knowledge everyone. Thank you!

One of the aluminum thwarts is bent in the middle and it's bent upward...and the gunwales are deformed where the thwart attaches. Even the scratches on the gunwales (that could easily be polished out) and all the scratches in the end deck make me wonder what happened. I'm guessing that it flew off a vehicle at high speed and tumbled and bounced until it hit a sleeping bear that mauled it in self-defense.