In general how would these two canoes compare (assuming they are both the poly-3 version).
I can get a 5 year old Discovery 169 for probably $450 or a brand new (blem) penobscot 164 ($645) or penobscot 174 for ($695).
I thought
that the Penobscot was made from royalex in which event I would recommend that canoe over the Discovery by a long shot.
correction
Old town does make a Penobscot 16RX, but the 164 & 174 are Poly.
What is a “too good to pass up price even though it is poly” price for a Discovery 169 that’s 5 years old?
Can a poly canoe be repaired if a split or crack develops? I know a royalex canoe can be fixed…
It’s more difficult to fix a poly canoe.
If there are poly and Royalex versions in the same hull length, you’ll find the Royalex kinda heavy and the poly painfully heavy.
Take a look at that Sawyer up in
Damariscotta. Not a beginner’s boat, exactly, but could be a bargain and it’s big enough for what you want to do.
Unless you and your spouse are good and strong, I’d stay with Royalex for a 17’ canoe. 10-15 lbs. doesn’t sound like much until you have to carry it that extra hundred feet or put it on top of a minivan.
yes
I just did an extensive repair with fiberglass, Dynel, and G-Flex epoxy on a poly Discovery/Allagash/Penobscot 174 which had been wrapped with many cracks on the hull interior amidships and very extensive wear through the solid poly layer into the core at both stems.
The bond seems good but it is too early for me to testify to the durability of the repair.
Old Town Discovery canoes
The Penobscot 174 started life as the Discovery 174 and was later renamed the Allagash 174 and is now the Penobscot 174. Compared to Old Town’s popular Royalex Penobscot 17, the Penobscot 174 has a little less arch in the hull bottom cross-section, is a little longer, a little broader, and considerably heavier.
The Penobscot 174 and the Discovery 169 are rather similar canoes in that they are both very large capacity tandem boats. While both are quite stable, the Discovery 169 is a little broader at the waterline and has a little flatter still hull bottom cross-section so it would probably feel a bit more stable than the Penobscot 174. Even though the Discovery is shorter, being an inch wider Old Town lists its weight as a bit greater than that of the Penobscot 174. I have lifted both and in my opinion they are exactly the same weight: too damn heavy.
I have never paddled a Penobscot 164. It appears to be a downsized Penobscot 174. Assuming it has a similar hull configuration, being a foot shorter with nearly the same waterline width, I would expect it to be somewhat slower and it would, of course, have a bit less carrying capacity, but would be somewhat more tolerable to tote around if you don’t require a rather enormous boat.