Someone here in NE Ohio is selling a Quetico 17 on Craig’s list. He bought the canoe back in 2000, made several trips to the BWCA the first few years he owned it, his wife injured her knees, and it’s been sitting under a tarp for over a decade. He’s including 4 paddles and asking $1100. He lives about an hour from me, and I’m planning on driving over this afternoon to take a look at it. My questions are: is this a good price? What should be my concerns? Things I should look for, ask about?
Here’s a link to the ad:
https://youngstown.craigslist.org/boa/5503399856.html
Probably.
Nice paddles…if they fit you it should be a good deal.
The portage pads are not original so that is another expense you don’t need to make.
Just turn the boat over to see if there is any fuzzing to the hull. That is fixable but a potential bargaining point.
A few comments
I usually don’t offer advice on this topic, I am since no one else seems to be here, and a look at the pictures says that evaluating this boat should be a simple process.
That boat has aluminum gunwales, thwarts, and seat hangers, and that alone eliminates the usual wood-rot concerns about it having been stored outdoors for such a long time. There might be rot on the ends of that portage yoke, but in that case, replacing it will be super easy. Same goes for the seats. If they are rotten, you can get replacement, but you might ask for a slightly lower price in that case, just because it makes sense.
Look for damage to the hull. Scratches are no big deal and have no effect on hull quality. Look for cracks or impact marks that feel “mushy” or “crackly” when you push on them firmly with your hand.
I know there are folks here who always try to talk-down the price to some amazing deal, but my guess is that the asking price is less than half of what you’d pay for the boat new, perhaps a lot less than half. If I wanted a boat of that design and nothing was seriously wrong with it, I’d pay that price and be happy.
Asking price may or may not be
ideal. Its what you are willing to do.
The boat is not probably overpriced.
I have canoed alot in Wabakimi in Souris River ( Wilderness 18s) . Usually the bottom skin wore off after 50 weeks of use. These were boats that were on work parties for 16 weeks each summer.
The Kevlar was hence showing. Its epoxy skin and no reason you could not recoat if you were willing to and if the boat needed it.
I paid $1800 in 2008 for my Souris River. Kevlar.
New now goes for $3000.
Dont mind bottom scratches as GBG says those are normal… Its when there are lots and lots of scratches that go through the skin coat that matter.
Doesn’t SR include an outer layer of
S-glass on current layups? Deters fuzzing the Kevlar underneath, although not under heavy use.
don’t know
SR used to have Duralite which seemed to incorporate a layer of glass. But they discontinued it.
Our boats were actually Duralite. The kevlar was the outer fabric layer. Go figure. They fuzzed.
And the OP is looking at an older boat. At that time SR had both Duralite and all Kevlar. We got all Kevlar.
Thanks for the help. It’s mine!
– Last Updated: Mar-26-16 6:21 PM EST –
Thanks so much everyone for the helpful advice.
With some reservations, I took the plunge and bought the canoe for $1000. The wood parts on the canoe need refinishing, but the wood doesn't seem to be rotten or weak. At the end of this post I'll post a link to some closeup pictures. When I examined the bottom of the boat, I didn't know what exactly I was seeing, and I'd appreciate any advice. Hopefully I won't regret the purchase.
It seems as though someone has slathered something or other over the bottom of the canoe. There is only one place where there seems to be a scratch of some sort that goes through to the Kevlar--its very straight and perpendicular to the length of the canoe. It's visible in the 8th picture. Behind that I can see a black line that looks almost like a thread--with a bunch of goop slathered over it (photo 11). And at the stern there is a ton of the slathered stuff (pictures 9 and 10).
My initial thoughts are to refinish the whole thing. And I'm seeing some helpful web pages with info on that. My main question is whether some sort of repair is necessary--and how I would know that?
Also, if you look at the last picture you can see that the gunwale on one side of the boat is slightly misshapen. Any advice on whether and how to correct that?
I can say that it right now floats just fine. My wife and I couldn't resist trying it out in a local lake on the way home, despite the 40 degree temps. It paddles like a breeze.
Here a link to the photos:
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0hGf693ZG6qg9f
It looks like it hit something
That alu gunwale is bent from a force on the bottom of the canoe. Its not worth trying to fix. If you try to straighten it it will probably break. It does not affect your seats of the shape of the hull
The bottom probably got creased badly. You can see where the Kevlar gave way on the light colored lines. The black almost looks like a break.
The slathering of epoxy looks like a mud facial gone amok.
Is any of that area soft? If so the inside should be reinforced with fiberglass or Kevlar.
Calling Pblanc!