I came across this canoe for sale locally. Owner says its about 10 yrs old. Don't know the specific model. Weighs about 50lbs. Any idea what models this could be? It looks like it might have been set up for whitewater at some point based on the kneeling pads and tie down points. Thanks!



click for more pictures

there should be a hull ID number (a series of letters and numbers) stamped into the hull below the gunwale. could be in front or back. might run your finger along the boat just under the gunwale, it might be easier, sometimes it's hard to see.

Not fiberglass, its a Royalex boat. If its 14'9" its a Courier. Not 10, more like 20 years old. We need more exact dimensions to nail down the model for certain.

If 10, then it's a Guide....or Freedom Solo. Not sure which year they made the switch. And it would be 14-6 I believe.

Thanks. So I'm not near the location where its for sale. The owner can't locate a hull number unfortunately. The canoe is 14'8" long, 16" tall, and 32.5" at its widest part.

How can you tell its not fiberglass just from the pictures?

The one gunnel is separated and part of the gunnels don't fully extend to a point on the one end. The gunnels are heavily weathered if you can't tell from the pics. Assuming this is royalex, what would be a fair price for this canoe?

"How can you tell its not fiberglass just from the pictures? "

You can see the hull sandwiched between the gunwales. A fiberglass hull would be 1/32"at most. Also it doesn't have any flotation. Royalex laminate has enough air to meet flotation specs.

I do believe it fits the Courier specs 14"9"x 32.5"

The Courier was discontinued after 1994 and was replaced by the shorter14'6" Guide in 1995.

Boat would be minimum 25 years old.

outdoornut9: "How can you tell its not fiberglass just from the pictures?"

Royalex is a sandwich.Royalex is a composite material, comprising 2 outer layers of vinyl and hard acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic (ABS) and an inner layer of ABS foam.
It is easy to see the sandwich in close ups of the gunwales.

Fair price is going to be hard from a photo. Woodwork is a mess. The hull looks good, but it needs to still be stiff to be worth much. If the hull is stiff so that it won't be oilcanning I'd say $400 at most. I buy boats to fix up and flip so I would be negotiating for less. With new gunnels and breastplate I'd put it back on the market for $800.

How much are they asking?

outdoornut9: "How can you tell its not fiberglass just from the pictures?"

Once you've sat a few years looking at that hull interior, it's instantly obvious that it's Royalex/ABS, even without the other clues. :-)

They're asking $200. I posted a link up top in my original post that has several more pictures of it too. I'm just trying to determine if I want to put the time, effort and $ into fixing this up. Besides soft spots in the hull are there any other issues I should be look for?

I suspect it is NOT a Courier, nor a Freedom Solo.
Likely an old, Royalex version of a Guide.
From what I see in photos, I'd say all of the wood trim except for the thwarts needs to be replaced. The bow decking is not original to the boat in my opinion; never seen anything like that on a Guide, or Courier. I've previously owned 2 royalex Guides, 1 kevlar Courier, and 1 Freedom Solo in royalex.

If you pay 200.00 for the boat, plus the cost of replacing all of the wood trim, plus time & sweat equity; you've likely run up the cost to more than you'll ever be able to sell it for, if you decide to try to get your money back. Initial cost of 200.00 sounds great, until you seriously consider final/total cost.

Bottom line: I'd pass it up; hassle factor too high for me .

PS Sorry about double posting of one of the Guide photos.
BOB

Thanks, Bob. That's what I was thinking. I really don't want a boat with wood gunwales as its more maintenance anyhow. Thanks everyone for your input!

Another opinion: At some time in its life, I believe the boat in question was stored laying on the ground upside down, with the bow on the lower ground. Thus the odd looking bow decking treatment. It was the first to start rotting, if what i believe about storage method is true.

Don't misunderstand me; I absolutely love wood trim on canoes; most of the canoes i own have wood trim. Don't want wood trim on any whitewater boat.
All my canoes are stored indoors, and the wood trim receives regular treatment; the wood trim on them has never been an issue.



Pictured are several old Blackhawks, and one Lotus. All wood trimmed
beauties; all stored indoors & regularly maintained.

Flashback,

I had a Blackhawk at one point. It was sharp looking too!
Ya, this mad river in question was kept outside by the current owner and by the looks of it under a wood pile! They had it for 2 years. I wonder what condition it was in when they got it.

If it's a boat that fits your needs, I'd take a look at it. Depending on how nice you want to correct things, you might be able to just epoxy the couple of sections of gunnels, sand and oil them. $200 is not much money for a canoe that floats, assuming the design fits your needs. A couple of years ago I picked up a Royalex Courier, in better shape, for $500, and didn't think twice (I wanted a solo river boat for the rocky rivers around here). Depending on outfitting, you might want to add a seat ($50 or so?) and maybe move or replace the existing thwarts ($20 each?). Take a good luck at the kevlar bang plates, too. They have a tendency to delaminate from the hull.

I know of people that do wonders with really crappy boats (trashed gunnels, big Royalex tears, etc.). You'd be starting with a boat in much better shape than many I've see.