$500 for used canoe?

Hello. I am new to canoe ownership, but am thinking of buying a Wenonah 17 foot Spirit II canoe in blue royalex for my family. The owner is the original owner and is asking $500. This price includes foam blocks and straps for carrying on the car, but does not seem to include paddles. Is this a reasonable price for such an old canoe?



Since we are new to the sport, we don’t want to spend a lot on our first boat, but we want it to be a good and safe one for the family.



Thanks so much for your help!

If you don’t see any damage except
scrapes and scratches, that’s a good price. I would probably buy it. Very good family canoe, fairly versatile, though avoid anything but fairly easy rapids.



By comparison, I bought a Mad River Guide used for $400. Bought it at the Nantahala Outdoor Center where the whitewater clientele were ignoring it because it was for “easy” stuff.

1999 boat
I forgot to mention that this is a 1999 boat. Does that affect your opinion?

Still a good price

– Last Updated: Mar-22-11 11:58 PM EST –

Canoes don't lose all that much value with age. The price is more related to what kind of shape they are in than how old they are. Royalex does become more brittle with age, but I've never seen or heard anything that would lead me to worry about that except in cases where the boat will be used in severe whitewater and will take some big impacts. My brother owns a Royalex canoe that's about 30 years old, and even if it might not hold up as well in a really severe crash, it can still take the kind of impacts that an average canoe is expected to tolerate. I don't know what the margin of safety is when hitting something with that boat, and at that age, a lower price would be reasonable (also because the new price would have been less 30 years ago than in more recent times). At the age of the boat you are talking about, $500 is quite reasonable.

Good price if in good condition.
I paid $450 for my royalex Wenonah Solo Plus from an outfitter and it was a bits scraped up from the renters.

in the right place at the right time
The Spirit II is an excellent family boat and they pretty rarely appear for sale. I’ve never seen one for $500. As long as it’s structurally sound, which it should be unless it was abused, you should feel great about your find.


thanks!
Hi everyone. Thanks so much for your advice. Let’s hope the boat is still available! It’s only been used in lakes, according to the owner, so I expect that it’s in good shape.



Thanks again!


missed it, I think
Hi everyone. So, it looks like I missed my chance with the Spirit II. Sad!



I found another boat, but don’t know if it’s big enough for two adults and two young kids (2 and 6). It’s a 16’ Indian River, fiberglass, cane seats. Is 16’ big enough?



Thanks again! Let’s hope I have better luck with the next one!


Be patient
Boat buying/selling season is about the begin and another good boat will show up. Indian River? probably junk.



Brian