January trip to Ely for a canoe
by Wables
Saturday morning I called most of the Ely outfitters to see about the availability of Q17's and waited for the arctic freeze to warm up... high of -3 with 15 mph winds. Piragis was the only one that I talked to that had any ready to look at. Dave and I, along with 3 of our boys, left Duluth about noon for the drive up north, burdened only by a quick stop for gas and burgers in Virginia.
We hit Piragis at about 2:oo, and Adam showed us the 3 Q17's that they still had, along with a couple of other boats that I was considering. The second Q17 that he showed us spoke to both Dave and I, no repairs, no scratches into the kevlar, gunwales in good shape, seats good, etc. We negotiated a price, and the deal went smooth. I was initially concerned that the boat was a bit smaller that we are used to traveling with, but after getting it in the basement with a food barrel and some packs, I think that it will handle our load with room to spare, and be a great addition to our adventures!
All in all a great ending to a whirl-wind weekend!!!