15 or 16 ft Grumman

Hello I am looking at a few different canoes and i will usually be paddling tandem with my girlfriend and every now and then a dog too but also occasionally paddling solo. I found a 16 foot Grumman canoe for 400 with outriggers and paddles but before I was trying to find a 15 foot should I go for the 16 or wait to see if I can find a 15 foot? Will the 16 be much different in paddling?

might be a long wait looking for a 15…no one grows younger…time waits for no man…make hay while the sun shines.

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If it floats, buy it.

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15-16’ IMO wont make much difference.

What I found with a 14’7” canoe using it as a solo you will want a seating style that lets you sit backwards in the bow seat to get you more in the center of the length and even then you may need to add weight to the other end to get it to track correctly. Even better is if you can get a third center seat for solo that puts you just behind center.

Depending if the seats are molded they might be uncomfortable and thwarts and the cross bars for the outriggers might be in the way.

Would you take the outriggers off?

That seems like a fair price based on condition of course. :canoe:

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Yeah I would depending on the situation I would take them off if I’m not on a lake and I’m in a river but did they make 16 foot double ended Grumman’s? I can’t find much on them.

Sixteen feet is the classic length. I like 17 feet even better.

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Could I solo a 17 footer easily I was kind of set on something smaller but should I try to get a 17’ I’ll be going on some rivers every now and then.

Where I have lived it has always been the 15 and 17 foot long Grumman and Alumacraft double ender canoes that were common along with a 16 foot square stern.

I suspect that the main difference you would notice would be out of the water. The 15 foot double ender Grumman in standard .050" gauge aluminum was listed at 69 lbs, which is plenty if you have to carry it any distance. The 17 foot double ender in the same gauge was listed at 75 lbs, and once you top 65 lbs or so every additional pound becomes significant.

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Depends upon the beam of the boat. I have friends with a boat around 15 that is wide as a barge. Longer and skinner is my style and easier to paddle.

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There were whitewater versions of Grumman canoes with shoe keels.
There were lightweight versions with thinner al and more ribs.
Aluminum canoes are not the lightest boat around but durable.
They are not fast, but handle waves well and carry large loads.
Longer canoes have better speed and carrying capacity.
I have paddled large canoes solo for many decades.

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