Mystery "Prospector" canoe??

A local guy is selling what he has listed as a “Sawyer “Prospector” kevlar” canoe. I’ve been keeping my eye out for something longer and lighter than our venerable OT Guide 147 but I can’t find a “Prospector” listed among Sawyer’s line-ups now or in the past. It’s a bit far for me to drive to see it so I’d like to know more about it before I get into that. We mostly day tour on fast rivers with bits of moderate white water (Class I and II), potentially some overnight trips (with ultralight gear).



Could it be this is a mis-identified We-no-nah? I’d love to have one of those and the shape and fittings look right (can’t tell if it has the rocker from those shots). Or could it just be a Sawyer with the wrong model name (though I don’t see any recent Sawyers that length of 16’ 6".) Then again, the We-non-nah is only 16’.



Does this canoe model look familiar to anybody? I gather “Prospector” is a generic term for a specific model and not trademarked.



http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/boa/2706368649.html

That boat’s been for sale for a while
I’ve wondered the same things as you. But he never had pics posted before. The deck plates look Sawyerish. Hopefully someone here will know something. I see it has a keel. I’d also be concerned how it was stored. It could be brittle.



If you had the chance, you could go paddle the Connequenessing in Ellwood City and check the boat out. The “Connie” is a nice class II at reasonable water levels.

test paddle is a good idea
BUT I might have trouble convincing my other half to paddle Class II in this weather (I have a drysuit, he doesn’t).



I do wonder what one “patches” kevlar with. I worked with kevlar in a polymer research lab at Carnegie Mellon years ago and recall the solvent for it was 130% fuming sulphuric acid.



Yeah, the noticable keel line struck me as odd for an alleged “Prospector”. I didn’t notice such on the Bell and We-no-nahs.



I sent the guy an email asking for a little more info on the craft, like age, weight and any markings.


See how this compares
http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=advice&tid=1313466



The Sawyer Canadian perhaps. Not a Prospector by any means. I suspect the seller forgot the model name and just said “oh a canoe is a Prospector”



Need more measurements and better pictures.



From the link comments seems to be a good ejection vehicle for the unwary.

good Connie level
What reading do you recommend as optimal for the Connie? We are always looking for day trips in the area (couple hour radius from Clearfield). Canoed the Red Mo at near 5 feet back in late September and it was a blast. Might have been more fun (and not quite as wet) in the kayaks.

hmm, don’t think its a Canadien
Boat for sale looks beamier and has a definite keel. Also looks like it might have a couple inches of rocker.



That Canadien looks like a tourist flipper, for sure. Caveat voyageur.

I regard 2’ as the low

– Last Updated: Dec-06-11 3:49 PM EST –

The highest I've paddled it was was 5' and the waves trains are getting pretty big at that level.

The put in is a RR crossing just on the outskirts of Ellwood City and the "regular" take out is at the sewage treatment plant in town. There is another takeout down lower where you get to do some of the better rapids. One of them "Roostertail" is a class III at somewhere around 2.5' and above. The problem with Rock Point Boat Club takeout is a gate that gets opened and closed at somewhat arbitrary times. You can never fully count on it being open when it's supposed to be. Easiest thing is just to plan to put in at the RR bridge and take out at the sewer treatment plant. I can give you GPS coordinates for both locations if you want them.

Boat Club
If I remember right it is now closed for the season.

Exterior keel? Think hard before buying
For river canoeing, and exterior keel is a nuisance, or worse.

Kevlar patches just fine with epoxy.
No special prep required. Though I’ve never gotten full definitive data, it appears that resins grip Kevlar fibers just a little less strongly than they grip glass, Nylon, polyester. But Kevlar layups hold up well in whitewater.



Maybe your experience was with the “ballistic” Kevlar used for bulletproof vests. It’s quite different from Kevlar 49, which is used for boats.

For class II, no keel please.
I wouldn’t choose that boat for cl2 rivers. And especially at that age, condition and price. Seems a little high for what it is.

Keel on Sawyer
I don’t recall ever seeing a keel on a Sawyer or ever seeing a Sawyer Prospctor. However there is a lot a don’t recall

The HIN would help confirm that it
is a Sawyer Something. Otherwise all is speculation. I don’t believe Sawyer ever made a Prospector. Thats a relatively new marketing ploy.