If anyone could provide me with some info regarding a Mad River canoe with the serial number MADE4607M811, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, the interior is gray, any clue about what material it is made of?
Thanks so much
Explorer
Most likely made the 8th month of 2011. Do not know the material. The E after MAD says this is a Explorer. The original Mad River Canoe company used a K at the end of the serial number for Kevlar. Do not believe they did this after Mad River was sold.
Mad River ID
This probably a fiberglass boat. The earlier FG craft had a grey gelcoat in the interior. Royalex interiors, which are found in a lot of Explorers, can be grey as well but it’s clearly not a gelcoat. FWIW
Steve
Think you’re confused
First - the boat’s a 2011 model, so it isn’t “early” and is in fact a “post Vermont” production. Second - my '97 FG Malecite, and all the FG Malecites Ive seen are painted to match the outer gel-coat on the entire inside of the canoe. My '98 Kev Malecite has the gray “football” painted area of the floor over natural honey-colored kev interior, which I think was also typical. I don’t know if the later boats were finished the same or not.
Weigh the boat
You should be able to see obvious signs of whether it is a fabric composite or something else.
Fiberglass and Kevlar will both have fabric texture showing on the inside of the hull. If you see this, then you only have to weight it to determine which layup you have. FG will be about 60-65 lbs, depending on trim. Kev will be less than 60 lbs - likely around 55 lbs.
If the interior shows no fabric pattern or texture, it it either royalex or one of the poly layups. If RX, it will again be in the 65 Lb range. Poly Explorers are more like 75+ lbs.
Probably not
That HIN follows the “model year format” in which the 9th character is always “M”. The next two characters in the model year format indicate the year of registration (build), in this case 1981. The last character indicates the month of registration, beginning with August, but should be a letter, not a numeral.
Are you sure that the “1” at the end of the HIN is not actually an “I”? If it is, the boat was built and registered in April of 1981.