Found the Serial # !!! Mad RIver ID from Serial # Help!

Wow, with just the right color LED light, a little spit and shine, and the right angle I was able to read the hand written marker serial number on the hull:
MADA5002M78J

Again, it’s 16’ long, green, beam is approximately 34-35"

Thanks again for any help!

Are you certain that the last four symbols are M78J?

Normally paddlecraft have a 3-letter prefix (MAD) that lists the company that made it. MAD = Mad River ??? This is assigned by the USCG and I am not familiar with their codes so may be wrong here.
The next 5 letters & numbers (A5002) are the company serial number for that boat.
The final 4 are the important ones (M78J):
last 2 are the model year so 8J (87?) would mean the model year or 1987.
The number before this is the actual year it was built. 7 = 1987
The letter before that is the month it was built with Jan = 1, Feb = 2 so M = ?

There are people here who know a lot more about this than do I so maybe canoes are different from kayaks???

Thanks, Hmm…the funny thing is that is actually one of the characters that was easier to read!

I found this canoe on ebay(http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mad-River-Canoe-with-Paddles-in-very-good-condition-16/232438375332?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160727114228%26meid%3D29e60f55f1b647ef9cfd2cecbcb7b590%26pid%3D100290%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D201635641073&_trksid=p2060778.c100290.m3507) which appears to be extremely similar, thought obviously newer since the number was cast in the hull–Nice it ends in “K”(ebay canoe below)

I’ve been trying to reach out to confluence, but have a feeling they will be no help, thanks for the input!