Don’t be embarrassed. How many here own or have owned a Coleman canoe?
I currently have a 15 footer that resides at our vacation house. I think i paid 80 bucks.
It may not win any races or beauty contests, but it is cheap, carries a big load and is virtually indestructible. It also brings back memories of the canoes we paddled as kids.
Any Coleman users out there? 
Whatever floats your boat…Pun intended. 
I haven’t owned one, but had a lot of fun with a cheap 10’ Pelican kayak.
I had a Coleman stove and lantern.
Had one. Wrecked it on the Gunpowder River. Cheap but did the trick. Very nice, simple little canoe.
Coming out of the Coleman Canoe closet, are you?
The crew’s in cab.
The boat’s in bed.
Beachcombers come to husband’s dread.
For off the bar,
parked by the castle,
fuchsia fit hulls husbands its hassle,
a-to-keel-line menance,
where hem 'n hull occur,
for ship-shapely ladies going tubular.
But then just add water.
A pattern paddles plan.
And in the bilge there’s suited the framed coal man.
Great poem!
I have many fond memories of catching bass and crappies out of a Coleman that my sister kept at her lakefront cabin in NH.
I also seen one totally folded around a midstream boulder in Zoar Gap in the class II WW run of Deerfield River. Those interior AL supports could have been a “death trap” if folded around someone’s foot…
It’s all a matter of using the boat in the right venue in the right conditions.
sing
I have never owned one but have run across a couple in my travels. Nice boat and for 80 bucks a good deal.
I knew if I waited around long enough I too could feel like an elitist here with my $150 OT Guide.
In all my years of boating I have found there is a inverse relationship between how much you pay for a boat and how much fun you end up having with it.
Thanks for posting Captain.
Regardless of price of a craft, I found there is a direct correlation of picking the right craft with the right venues for enjoyment and safety. Of course good judgement, skills and physical conditioning come into play, if not more so, depending on venue. 
sing
That’s exactly what happened to our Coleman, Sing, but until that happened, it was a grand boat. We replaced the crunched aluminum with copper pipe. Doubled the life. Very fond memories. No regrets.
Admire your ingenuity. By today’s prices tho’, that would have been a relatively expensive rebuild (if you had picked up a Coleman at a good price as the OP). I think 10’ of 3/4" copper piping is now $40 plus. 
sing
Three or four sticks of Copper pipe plus a few fittings, holy moly! That would be an expensive Coleman today!
Very true. I just replaced a Wenonah Adirondack with an Old Town Tripper. We needed more space for the bow paddler and grandkids.
Already looking ahead to the next canoe. We are looking at doing some travel nursing in the near future. The next one will probably be something light and suitable for solo and tandem.
The Tripper will most likely replace the Coleman at the vacation house.
All of my canoes have been purchased used at relatively inexpensive prices. I have had fun with each of them. I am not saying that the latest carbon - kevlar - basalt wonder boat wouldn’t be cool, but they are not required for fun.
Sing, we used 1 1/2 copper with a T-brace in the center. It was a snap to sweat the joints. At the end of tbe canoe’s life, im sure tbe copper went in the recycle bin and we recovered more scrap value that the initial investment. I got away from WW as we busted up canoes, then my brother wrecked a shoulder. Now i paddle open water and I like it.
Worse than owning one, I sold hundreds of them in the 1980’s when I managed a K mart Sporting Goods Department. They are totally fine for lakes and deep rivers, they have zero abrasion resistance though so I would avoid them on shallow rocky bottom rivers. Eat your Wheaties though, they are heavy.
heavy barge… spent a lot of pleasent hours in coleman canoes. I would never choose to portage one.
The most important words are in the title of your post; “I Paddle”.
I have a coleman seat pad!
