Old Town Canoe - sell, trade, or give away?

Advice
#1

I need to let go of my Old Town Discovery canoe. It was purchased in the late 80’s/early 90’s. It has been stored outdoors upside down on saw horses in the shade since then. It hasn’t been taken on the water for many years.

What can I do to test the hull integrity beyond visual inspection? The canoe had no significant damage from use. I don’t know what to tell a prospective buyer about its current water-worthiness. Please advise if you have any suggestions.

It appears to be in good shape with visual inspection but does it become brittle or otherwise unsafe? If it is okay, I’d love for it to have a good home. My dream? to trade it for a kayak! But i know that is probably just a dream…(It’s in Marin County, CA by the way)

#2

Well, even if a trade is unlikely you can certainly sell it and put the proceeds toward a kayak.

The boat is probably in reasonably good shape, given that it has been in the shade. Plenty of outfitters’ boats are nearly that old, and in spite of being well used and not stored in the shade, they seem to hold up well enough to tolerate a lot of the abuse inflicted on them by renters.

I’m no expert, but I think it might not fetch more than about $300, maybe $500 if you are lucky. The Discovery was never considered a high-quality boat, but they were certainly popular, and very tough.