In our search for a used canoe we have come across an outfitter who is selling several fiberglass Mohawk 16 and 17 foot canoes. The “Blazer” model. They are described as in good condition and well taken care off. The are beige colored with alum. gunwales. they are asking $500. What are your thoughts? I am thinking the 17foot for my wife and I. I hope to negotiate a lower price. Can fiberglass be painted with good results?
Mohunk Blazers
This will fill the requirements you posted for a tandem canoe. They do not have a very deep hull, are very flatbottomed, tend to oilcan in waves or when paddled hard, and were used by a lot of liveries 20 years ago.
This will be an easy to repair canoe.
The price is high for a used livery canoe that was barely $500 new. Negotiate, it is not a very good paddling hull, not very deep, has cheap trim(seats, thwarts,gunwales), and is now old and brittle. $250 would be reasonable.
Bill
Defined as…
Defined as in “good condition” by whom?
The seller?
The seller is an outfitter. Who uses boats from an outfitter, and how do the users typically treat them?
Where are outfitter’s boats typically stored? Laying on the ground, or sitting on a boat trailer in the Tennessee(UV) sun, or under cover?
Why do outfitters typically getting rid of boats? Because they want newer/better boats for their customers, or because the boats are old & becoming maintenance problems?
I don’t think $500.00 is even remotely close to being a good price.
Blazers are no longer made by Mohawk; they are an older model, and typically older does not mean better, especially when they’ve been rented by an outfitter to anyone who can afford the rental fee.
I’d look them over “real good” before I bought one. Speaking for myself; I wouldn’t pay 5 hundred for a new one. I’ll bet you can find something much better for 5 hundred bucks if you really search.
BOB
yes
Mohawks can be painted with good results. Ken in concord cut out a foot of legnth on his 18 mohawk to get in the rec class at th etime. Glassed it together and paited it (freightliner red) got new lettering from Mohawk and was good to go.
That being said
Ken did body work for trucks, including painting so he might have had an inside edge…
Unless affected by hydrolysis, it
won’t be any more brittle than when new. Composite boats can become weaker through flexing and battering, but they don’t get brittle on the shelf.
I think painting would be like making
a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. As for the fiberglass, look inside and see if the texture is cloth-like, or if the glass fibers are randomly oriented. Mohawk made some canoes with chopper-gun fiberglass, which is heavier and not as strong as cloth layup.
A friend got quite a bit of use in easy whitewater with her chopper gun 16’ Mohawk, but she was careful. I borrowed the boat once and ran it tandem on Section 2 of the Chattooga. I did not notice any significant bottom flexing on that occasion, but the models are not the same. I have a much more sophisticated '73 fiberglass canoe that does show bottom flexing, unless keel supports are used.
I don’t think those boats are bargains, at $500 or at $350, but that’s because I don’t call a boat a bargain unless it is a pretty good boat. If you are patient with the used canoe market, you may get something much better for not much more money.
I’ve a Blazer. The interior hull
has the chopper glass, but there is a layer of glass cloth full length of the hull. Not an exciting canoe, but serviceable.
I bought one 5 years ago
I picked one up new at the factory when it was in Florida for $400.00. It has the upgraded gunwhales and woooden seats and yoke. So to $500 sounds a little pricy for one that is used.
Mohawk 16 Blazer
Not sure what part of the country you are in.
These are very popular in Central Florida.
Perfect for our sandy world.
Strong and straight will bring about $300.
I have one for resale that is pristine - will bring about $375 on Craigslist.
Post an ad “want to buy” on your local Craigslist to find a nice canoe or yak for good price.
Annie the yak trader
Mohunk interiors
Most Mohunks i have seen are fiberglass mat on the interior, which shows random fibers, but is not chopper glass.Some had woven roving instead of finer weave cloth, and it will clearly show the weave, since its about as fine as burlap. Still heavier and weaker than a true cloth layup. But much better than a chopper gun hull, and Mohunk did make those also. The Blazers i have seen in rental usage were all cloth outside, with matt interiors. And not much reinforcement in the bilge.
i think you’re right
saw a bell northwind in royalex on this site for a similar price. there are much better canoes out there in that price range. and the outfitter part is true, too. i paddle 3 or 4 times a week from an outfitters in florida and their fleet of mohawks look like crap, are treated like crap and paddle like crap, i actually rented one years ago.