I just acquired a 17 foot Grumman Eagle. It's in excellent condition with no dents at all and only minimal scratches. The light blue paint on the inside of the hull is still pretty good. The seller lived along a lake and that appears to be the only place it ever got used. Per the serial number I think it's a 1983 build and it's reasonably light for an aluminum canoe.
It does not have typical Grumman thwarts, so I think I'll be cutting my own ash portage yoke at some point soon, and I plan to inspect the floatation foam in the bow and stern.
Does anyone else have any experience with the Eagle model? Does it handle better loaded down or fairly light?
I expect the primary stability to be a bit less than the regular Grumman, but with the flared sidewalks it should have respectable secondary stability. Is this a good assumption?

At the nature center where I volunteer, we have a Grumman Eagle in the rental fleet. Nice boat for rentals but I had fabricate a new center thwart after the original was stolen. The factory installed them with nuts/bolts, when I installed the replacement I riveted it into place.

I have this canoe and I love it. It does really well loaded down and is fast. I don't think you need to load it down though, except for balance. My buddy and I have never had an issue without gear, but we do each weigh 160-190lbs.

It feels tippy, but you can lean really far without going over. Low primary stability but high secondary stability. This means it does really well with waves and wind. You roll with them instead of getting rocked around by them.

I was surprised about how light and fast this was for an aluminum canoe. I threw a spring creek combination portage pad and middle seat and portaging became a breeze. I figured out that the weight never bothered me, it was the inability to find the right balance point and how jarring it was on my shoulders/neck when I take a heavy step.

As long as the low primary stability doesn't bother you too much, I think you are going to love this canoe.

I've been a serious whitewater kayaker since the early '90s, an ACA L4WW instructor, so lack of primary stability isn't generally an issue (although my wife might need to adjust). I've just gotten into canoe tripping with my first BWCA trip earlier this summer.

As a Scout leader, aluminum was obvious because kids are going to be abusing it and doing canoe over canoe emptying & re-entry (required for the merit badge).

As much as I'd love a nice kevlar boat, this one makes sense for my needs and it was a very fair price.
Years ago I helped out on weekends at Chicagoland Canoe Base and Ralph always kept one of the original Canadiennes on a prime rack inside. I've never paddled one, but the memory of it is etched into my mind as the perfect canoe. The Grumman is not that boat, but it will fit my needs quite well.