Help with choosing a family boat

Malecite
This hull is a big solo, but a small volume tandem. It is fairly shallow, and narrow. Nice paddling for two experienced light paddlers, but not the canoe for a family. You could take everybody out in it; IF the kids sat on the bottom and sat still, IF the water was calm, and IF you were in sync with each other.

Best advice is to keep looking.

Another thought?
Any thoughts on this (or does anyone recognize the design). I’m light on information on it. The girl measured it at 22’ and 36" beam, but I think the length is a little overstated. It’s never been patched.



It’s aluminum and fiberglass (so probably 80 lbs). I’ll probably take a look at it tomorrow.



Great 2 seater canoe. Good for whitewater or just a lazy day fishing. Plenty of room for gear and coolers.



http://images.craigslist.org/3n83k13pdZZZZZZZZZ93ndd1bd1089a1815cb.jpg



http://asheville.craigslist.org/boa/1087907577.html

You could use it on real easy
whitewater, maybe class 1 and easy class 2, but it appears to have a keel, a liability when paddling around and over rocks. I can also see some reinforcing ribs in the bottom. It does not look like a top-end fiberglass layup.



Essentially, if you were starting with a Mad River Explorer, you would have a wider range of possibilities. What I see in the picture appears to be a “casual” canoe for easy lakes. Still, if the price is quite low, it would be a start…



You have to allow for some dumb luck in shopping for used boats. I’ve bought high quality boats for $400 or less. You have to be patient, and lucky.

How about on salt marsh and choppy water

– Last Updated: Mar-23-09 7:37 PM EST –

How well would this boat do down at the shore, in the salt marsh toward's Charleston, in the mangroves in south Florida, and modest rivers say good portions of the French Broad and some Florida rivers. I'm assuming with the keel it would track well and be good for open water and track well in bays. It sounds like there might be some shallow water issues.

The girl said she could throw in paddles and one PDF (no idea of the quality of either). Assuming, my wife and I can actually get on top of the mini-van... any ideas on price point? How about new?

Many thanks for the advice. This may be another opportunity to pass up, but I have to keep checking them out and I learn more with every pass.

PS. While I'm at it... if I go and take a look at this tomorrow, what specifically should I be looking for.

Weight
Reinforcement mechanisms
Layers of fiberglass

Also, I guess short of putting it on the water - there's no real way to tell how it paddle. I guess that's the biggest concern and without a brand or design to check in the reviews - that makes it pretty difficult to assess from dry land.

Thx again

Looks familiar
If you go to look at this canoe, carefully look at the texture of the material inside the hull. The colorcoat on the outside, and i won’t call it gelcoat for a reason, will hide the reinforcing material. The texture inside will reveal what construction and fiberglass material was used in its construction. A good canoe layup will show as a fine weave, clothlike. A medium quality layup will be a coarser texture, like burlap. A low quality layup will be random strands of glass like the fiberglass in house insulation. The bottom rung is chopper gun fiberglass and it will be a very thick hull with the random fiber look. IF the keel inside the hull looks hollow and you can plainly see where the bottom of the hull turns into the keel, it is probably a hand layup. If the hull is smooth across the keel inside, or the keel appears to be a covered tube, it may be a chopper gun layup.

Any photos you can take of inside of the hull, especially closeups of the ribe and the seat attachments will be helpful.

At the best this will probably be a woven roving cloth layup, at worst it is a generic chopper gun layup. A chopper gun canoe is not worth $300. A solid layup of woven roving is worth $300 and a cloth layup is worth more.

From what i can see in the small photo, the flat seats and overlapping decks, the rocker and gunwale contour; it looks generic Canadian, and there were several companies in Florida making similar canoes.

The HIN number molded into the hull just under the gunwale near the stern will tell the manufacturer and date. And the lack of a HIN number will also help to date it and its country of origin.

Closeups of any decals and rating plates inside the hull will help. Any letters molded into the deck plates or seats will help. The length and width of this canoe, the depth at center and the rocker (how much the canoe is off the flat ground at the ends), will tell what paddling it is best suited for, its construction will tell how much it is worth, and again what it stand up to paddlingwise.



Ask where they bought this canoe.

Bill

Like he said.
I agree with plaidpaddler on what to look for. The canoe would do OK in salt marsh, and if not overloaded, would handle light chop OK. You could use the boat on Florida rivers.



If you run portions of the French Broad, don’t run it when it is dirt low. You need low-moderate water to keep that keel (the one I think I see in the picture) from snagging on ledges. Part of running rivers like the French Broad, the Little Tennessee, and the Hiwassee is that you have to maneuver your canoe back and forth over wide rivers in order to line up for the right chute in the next ledge. Keeled canoes require more effort to make those maneuvers.

Another round of great advice
Many thanks for the detailed pointers - very educational. I’ll take my camera.



I’m assuming the girl somehow inherited this boat. She was very light on details and hadn’t taken this out on the water. I asked about model and she just didn’t know. I’ll get additional details if I’m able to look at it tonight.



Looking forward to my next lesson ;-).


Wenonah 17’ Sundowner
http://www.wenonahracing.com/marathon/Models/17_Sundowner.html

RE:Family Boat
Of all the boats mentioned, I like the Champlain as the family cruiser. It will handle the kids for a good while. I also happen to own one, but my kids are too big for canoes, they want kayaks. I have used mine from the Pacific Northwest to the Gulf Coast of Texas. It is a great all arounder. It now serves as my fishing canoe for saltwater trips to the bays and bayous when I want to take a passenger. I also have a Sundowner 18, nice boat,plenty fast, roomy enough, but not as stable with a cargo of kids.

Another for the …
Spirit II. We’ve had it to the gunnels with 2 kids and a dog and never went over. Not the fastest but not the slowest either. I’ve been told by my wife that we are never aloud to sell it.

No quite as advertised
So, the 22’ foot boat magically turned into 16’. The interior bottom looked like it was blown, chopped (very rough, obvious strands of fiberglass). The keel (quite pronounced) was visible from the inside. The upper sides had a more hand laid appearance (you could see the rough mesh but no fiberglass strands).



Anyway, I passed on the opportunity. Hopefully, something in Royalex will come along. Thanks again for the advice.

Generic 16’
You saw the mesh of a low priced layup. the sides and bottom had a layer of cloth and the bottom was reinforced with layers of fiberglass mat. The keel was visible along with the cloth up the sides, so i would venture that it was not a chopper gun layup.

It would be worth #300 as a starter canoe, and you could recover most of your investment in the future, but if you can wait, there will be better canoes available as people see spring coming and list more for sale.

Now you are a more educated canoe buyer and will know what to look for and what to ask a seller.

Bill