Aquarius Canoes?

I recently purchased a used 16’ flat back canoe called Aquarius (on the registration). I can’t find any info at all on these canoes. Anyone know where they were made or by what company? I’d like to find out more about this canoe, such as load ratings, and get some reviews on them, and other specs. Thanks

I can only help with one thing

– Last Updated: Oct-27-13 9:31 AM EST –

The only thing I can help with, is to say that it's usually best to pay no attention to the manufacturer's load ratings. More often than not, what they call the maximum load is too heavy for practical purposes, one that turns the boat into a pokey barge. "Realistic" load ratings are much harder to find, but you can come up with your own ratings that are "close enough" if you measure length and width, and then look up the specs for a boat having similar dimensions built by a company that DOES provide realistic load ratings.

The original Bell Canoe company is out of business, but their old website is still working.

http://www.bellcanoe.com/

Look through the list of boats there and find one that's very similar in overall dimensions to yours, and then note what they say about load capacity. Note that they don't tell you how much load you can carry. They will tell you what they think is the optimum load, and they will also provide a chart that tells you what loads will depress the hull into the water 2, 3, 4, and 5 inches. In my experience, a canoe loaded to the point that it sinks 5 inches into the water is carrying any awfully big load and handles like a pig, but in certain situations some people might find that to be acceptable. In my own experience, a boat loaded to the 3- or 3.5-inch waterline is carrying "plenty". Also, this won't be of concern to you, but it's interesting to notice that most Wenonah canoes having lengths and widths comparable to any particular model on the old Bell website would sink more deeply into the water for any given load, on account of their diamond-shaped profile (straight-line edges between the stems and the widest point result in a somewhat greater difference between maximum width and average width than is the case for boats having a more-rounded, gradually-curving profile (as seen from above)).