I recently purchased a Great Canadian 16’ canoe, but can’t find any info on the beast. I’m new to Canoe’s and looking for some background info such as model, weight capacity, etc. I’ve tried searching around but there is very little info I can find (most likely due to not knowing where to search besides google.). Any help is greatly appreciated.
When I knew it (2005), the Great Canadian Canoe Company was located on Route 146 in Sutton, MA. It was probably located in Worcester, MA at some earlier time. They were a distributor, not a manufacturer - importing canoes and kayaks from Canada and reselling them under the Great Canadian name. They have been out of business for years. Don’t know who actually manufactured the canoes, but they are solidly built. For years they were the canoe of choice for people around here (southern New England) that were looking for “lilly-dipper” canoes, and there are still lots of them around.
Great Canadian was in part an importer of Canadian made canoes, somewhat like American Trader in Vermont. I looked at a cedar one recently that was actually a Roby. The fiberglass ones that I have seen were mostly utilitarian, chopper-gun monstrosities, with cast aluminum decks and were extremely heavy, but robust. Yours is curious, as a lookup of the GRV prefix of the serial number on the USCG database indicates it was made by G&R Industries in Auburn MA, yet says Made in Canada on the tag. Since the US and Canada have a reciprocal agreement on HIN’s it seems unlikely there would be another GRV prefix issued by the Canadians. The last few digits indicate that it was made in July 1985.
Weight capacity is determined by the weight of water displaced to a certain depth… 8 inches of freeboard is safe though some makers used six inches to get insane capacities like 1100 lbs.
Don’t put that much in a 16 foot canoe… Safe is about 500 lbs. And after that it becomes like paddling a submerged log anyway.
Hi I have a Great Canadian circa 1990 or earlier-cedar interior raw hide seat I am trying to sell–I wonder what you think yours is worth? trying to get an idea what to ask. It is a gem quite lovely canoe with wooden paddles etc. thanks! Vera