Oldtown Ospery
I purchased the Ospery 140 new this year and liken it to the 62 Belair wagon I drove as a kid. It’s almost the same color. Solid and reliable.
Good stable fishing platform for small lakes and slow rivers. Don’t expect to win any races with it. I had three others on my short list but chose the Osprey over the others due to weight. I can get 57 lbs on the truck rack without any problem.
Lastly of all the used canoes for sale here none were Oldtown. People just don’t sell them.
Old Town Discos and other poly boats
I’d say old town makes great poly boats and the seem to put them together with care. The only thing I don’t like is the cane seats which simply rot out in a few years. Mad River makes a 14tt and a 16tt that are nice poly boats and the seats are webbing which lasts and lasts. Still the webbing is stapled in with regular steel that will rust out if you the type that gets a lot of salt water in your canoe.
My Ideal…
(a HW model, 17 ft) was built in 1917 and I use it about twice a week. Mostly WANDA is sailed now-a-days, but she’s a fabulous canoe for tripping. She’s a great poling canoe too, since I remove the center thwart for sailing…
I’ve used her on the Nine Carries and the Seven Carries up in the ADKS, sailed her from Virginia Beach to Nags Head, taken her to two World’s Fairs and a Goat Roping too!
Love My 158
She’s hogged backed, heavier than sin, has a low freeboard for running WW but I have taken that canoe more miles than I care to think about. I’ve got it rigged out for paddling, poling, and sailing and its never failed me yet. Yup, there are sure a lot nicer boats out there but I prefer this one cause she just likes to be on a river, any river! Nothing spectacular about it just a workhorse!
dougd