First time poster here. Already searched the archives and didn’t find anything on this canoe. The seller wants $250, its 14’, and seems to be in good shape as its only
I have seen them on Atlanta’s metro
Chattahoochee, and they look acceptable for that asking price. Some guys have been using them for a while, just for river fishing.
Not bad
One of my son’s has one and has fun in it. $250 sounds reasonable as long as it isn’t beat up.
Tom
They float,
But don’t expect them to handle like a quality canoe. Slow and sluggish, and hard to maneuver. I would use one if I didn’t have a canoe, but I turned down buying one last summer for $200.00 with paddles and life jackets. If you buy it, keep your eyes open for a better canoe. Buy it and you can probably resell the Rogue River for what you gave.
Regarding the handling issue, after
purchase, one should paddle it tandem and watch for oil-canning in the middle of the boat. What I mean by this, is that the bottom of the boat rises somewhat and even “waves” as water currents affect it. This sort of behavior, which I have experienced both in one of my composite boats (!) and in a rental Old Town Discovery 158, will have a very negative effect on handling. It can be “fixed” by getting some minicell or ethafoam and making a simple pedestal between the center thwart and the bottom of the boat. This is usually enough to keep the bottom of the boat down where it belongs, but it is also possible to apply the treatment to the front and rear thwarts, if present. A continuous foam girder can be carved to serve for seating.
If the bottom of the boat is held down where it belongs, the handling of the boat will be improved quite a bit.
Some thoughts
They are slow and heavy and wide. Perfect for a river fishing canoe, as far as I’m concerned. I wouldn’t want to take it into any serious rapids because of the lack of maneuverability. But hopefully as a novice, you wouldn’t be doing that without instruction and expert guidance anyway.
For lake use, I think so long as you’re not interesting in doing long distances quickly, which you won’t no matter how hard you paddle, then it should be fine for that as well.
They sell new in this area for about $400. If the boat is in good condition (bottom scratches are expected), then $250 sounds like a fair price.
- Big D
keelson held down by center seat
This boat is Leasure Life’s Coleman clone. it has 3 seats and the tubular reinforcement for the floppy hull bottom runs under the three seats and they hold it in place. It is a wide 42" at the middle making it a tank to paddle solo, and not much better tandem.
But for drifting down a river fishing, it has its place. Just hire some big dudes to carry it up the bank for you and put it on your vehicle. And it does have mulitple cup holders.