A recent post mentioned that aluminum trim would be a weight-saving option on 2006 Bell Royalex canoes. I wrote to the factory about upgrading from the current vinyl trim and got this response:
“Thanks for your email. The aluminum trim shaves about 4lbs off the weight of the MorningStar Royalex. You could retrofit the trim to an existing hull, but it would require removing seats and thwarts, drilling out all the old rivets and installing the new gunwales by drilling more holes and attaching new rivets. It is a fairly involved job. Also, shipping gunwales is expensive since, due to their length, we must ship them on a truck not via UPS or other common shipping methods.
Thanks again for your email.
Best regards,
John Fleck
Customer Service”
You may be able to get your local
dealer to save you money on shipping by having the aluminum gunwales sent INSIDE a Bell canoe they are receiving anyway.
Having to drill and use new holes is no big deal. If you feel compulsive, you can plug the old ones with something, but the foam core is closed cell and will not soak up water.
You will also have to wait
untill your dealer puts in his preseason order or go get the gunwales yourself. Shipping on even some one piece paddles is ridiculous adding almost $100 to the price.