Mad River Explorer 16 1994 post-buy advice request (age, repair)

Advice
#1

Hi everyone,

My friend and I just bought a used Royalex 1994 MR Explorer for 500€ intended for multi-day tandem trips. It included a well-matched aftermarket middle seat, transport cart, decent wood paddles, 2 barrels and some 303 spray. Also the original seats were adjusted for comfortable kneeling. Most other offers were heavier 3PE, vinyl gunwhales (we love the wood), no equipment, cheap seats, more damaged or 1000€+ (or all of the above).

Image link of the top side due to embed limit:
https://imgur.com/a/IQkCQDa

Photo of the bow below, the patches are melted Lego for the heaviest scratches. Yes, really - but the guy who sold it to us works with resin composites so hey, I guess it works? Stock ABS supposedly wasn’t exposed but he wanted to get ahead of any further damage. He seemed trustworthy on that front.
Gunwales and decks were completely redone 8-10 years ago.

I just have some questions:

  1. We didn’t find the serial number until after returning home, estimating it to be maybe 15 years old. Turns out it’s 31. The hull flexes well and bounces back when pushed on hard, no cracking sounds, which we did check thoroughly before buying. Is this just lucky? Should we just never go above light to moderate WW to be safe? I’ve read about brittleness after 10 years and going strong after 40, it’s all over the place. Apparently Mad River was bought up in '98 and the Royalex quality dipped.

  2. Bow dent goes through to the inside, no puncture though. Damage happened after the patch job. Any first-hand heatgun treatment experiences? Leave it as-is to avoid potentially harming the material with excess heat? Just fill it in with G-Flex?

  3. Are the long, deep gouges that didn’t penetrate the vinyl a repair candidate at all or just scars that add character?

  4. Opinions on skid plates? We are considering a fiberglass on diolen DIY job using poly resin because apparently diolen gets fuzzy when scratched up and the superior dynel is unavailable in Europe. But undecided because a) opinions on having them at all seem split and b) unsure whether that’s an easily botched and irreversible project.

  5. Thoughts on repainting? We are aware most paint won’t bond super well long-term but would consider it if the paint holds up for a few years. We love the original cream color.

Just some things that were bugging me and I couldn’t get satisfying answers out of semi-related old threads. Orthis will definitely see good use even if it turns out she can’t bump rocks with the best of them anymore.

Thank you and kind regards,
Leon

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#2

Melting legos is a real thing for repairs but I didn’t know people did that with Roylex canoes. If the purpose of the boat is to have fun by running some whitewater then I say go for it. If you want to increase your safety and increase the chance that the boat will come out unscathed then be sure to add additional flotation. I would run the boat a while before adding skid plates (when the ends start getting deep gouges). I always liked the way the mr explorer heeled with the v hull which made it fun to paddle. It is a wetter ride than an old town tripper but I thought way more fun to paddle.

#3

Interesting, I hadn’t seen anyone talking about adding floatation. Thanks for the shout, we’ll look into it when we get into rougher trips.

Skid plate take sounds reasonable.

#4

Here are links to two threads I started when looking for advice to repair a Royalite Esquif Avalon. I also did a thread on an MR Royalex Guide. It was delaminating in the center of the bottom which I drilled holes through the vinyl and used a syringe to fill with epoxy, but can’t find the thread anymore. I hope this is of some help.

Royalite Avalon and epoxy question? - Advice - Paddling.com

Where to buy Dynel and G-flex - Advice - Paddling.com