Picked it up Friday. It's a '93 in dark green with wood trim. FG lay-up. 45 pounds or so.
Very good condition. Hull is very smooth and no rot or warps in rails. Paid $550.
Way too early to post a review or serious report. So far I've taken it out for two different four mile paddles.
I'm starting to get into a groove with the boat. Feels like it has a pronounced cruising speed. But loads of fun. Feel like the boat has already taught me a little about canoeing.
my Indy says to say Congrats If you tinker, you might consider lowering the seat and moving it fore or aft based on your weight in an empty boat. Just redrill new holes in the gunnels and epoxy dowels into the old holes.
I also routed a notch in the upper end face of the thwart, matching the curve of the gunnel, so it nests up against the gunnels for additional stiffness.
Good do everything boat. On the home river I take a paddle and a pole. Sometimes I’ll swap ends to pole up fast drops and might kneel instead of stand. Sometimes just stand behind the seat facing the bow and pole in quickwater.
I have the curved cane seat and use that for a carrying thwart.
the seat needed to be recaned a few times. This boat keeps on going and looks good doing it. Keep that wood clean and oiled.
The Indy Appreciation Club! I had mine out on a dawn patrol Sunday. The Ipswich was as high as I’ve ever seen it and I paddled upstream against a modest current. I thought maybe I’d go up as far as the Audubon landing. But it was still pretty early when I got there. So I thought maybe I’d just go up to Perkins Island. That didn’t take as long as I thought it might. So I figured I’d keep on up to the Topsfield Fair grounds. Once there I turned back and enjoyed the leisurely float down to my truck, a little surprised at how fresh I felt.
like jj has, but I made his mods to the thwarts and it seems to have helped stiffen things up nicely. It's a pretty straightforward procedure, and I think it's something Rob should consider for the new VC Indy. I didn't lower the contoured seat, I didn't think my feet would fit through there with it any lower. I'm mostly sitting this season, so it might be something to consider. The construction on the Kevlar lay-up is superb, IMO. At first, she seemed too thin and flexy around the freeboard amidships, but I bashed a couple of rocks kinda hard this spring and was happy to find mere scratches resulted. She's robust where she needs to be. With new ash rails and walnut decks, she comes in at darn near 34 pounds, which, along with her yare appearance, is what attracted me initially. I LUUURVE my Indy!
... in the thwarts ends to stiffen the boat a bit. But I don't know what is gained by lowering the seat, unless you don't kneel at all. To me, one of the advantages of the new Vermont Indy is that the seat can be raised a bit (since the sides are an inch higher). But, part of the fun is the tinkering.
that makes sense the thwarts on my canoe have been replaced and seem very strong.
i ordered an ed’s bucket cane seat for the boat. plan to put it about three inches aft of where it is now. i find that the boat is bow heavy empty. i have to load it stern heavy to keep her from wandering off course.
but, after five days in the boat, i like it. it doesn’t have the personality of the bell boats i’ve paddled. it’s a touch slower then the merlin II, or feels that way toward the top end speed.
i like the low center depth, though. it works, as someone pointed out before, as a type of tumblehome.
i know it will take water over the rails in following seas (done that) but a cover and paddler compensation will handle that, up to a point obviously.