Hello all, I’m new to the forum. Looking to buy my first canoe, trying to stay within a $1000 budget, so looking at used boats. Have a question about royalex repair. Have a royalex Penobscot available in my local market for around $1000 that looks to be in great shape. However, it does have a dent in the upper part of the bow just underneath the gunwale. Is this significant? Is it repairable? Attached a pic for reference
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I can’t answer your question about whether the dent is repairable or how you would do so. I’m only commenting to say that I would not pay $1000 for that canoe. Even if the dent were absent, and the rest of the boat is in excellent condition, I wouldn’t pay more than $700-800. I think you can do better, especially this time of year.
I agree on the price. That is what, 1400 brand new? So I guess it is some savings, but 1k with that damage is nuts.
That damage is interesting. There’s a lot of distortion in the body, but the deck plate and gunwales look fine. I wonder if it is from heat.
If it has been stretched with heat, I can’t see how you would fix it
Thanks guys, really appreciate the advice. Thought that the asking price was likely too high. So given your confirmation and thoughts on the damage, will steer clear of this boat. Thanks again
You can always make an offer. That damage isn’t going to sink the boat and it won’t impact paddling. Although someone asking $1000 will likely think a $500 offer is insulting
It’s an unusually tough market right now. It’s not really repairable, it won’t affect boat performance but it will affect resale value. You might offer $700 if that’s the only defect. It’s an odd defect, must have been a factory defect or exposed to serious heat in that spot.
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My guess is that it suffered a very localized direct side impact exactly forward of where the gunwale ends. Those gunwales do not extend all the way to the stem.
You might conceivably be able to more or less restore the contour of the hull. To do so would probably require drilling out the rivets that hold the deck plate on to access the interior of the hull. By propping the other end of the hull up and filling the interior of the stem with hot water you might be able to soften the Royalex enough to pop it back out using some type of lateral force applied to the interior of the hull. But even if that works, and there is no guarantee, there will always be a visible crease there.
I can’t speak to the damage and affected value on this one, but anyone who thinks a pristine Royalex Penobscot isn’t worth $1,000 is crazy. There is NO U.S. inventory on any T-Formex boats out there due to the virus and when they come back, they’re only going to go up from the $2,400 MSRP. My buddy reps one of the companies. Further, the Penobscot is touted in “Expedition Canoeing” as one of the best all-around expedition tripping hulls out there when WW is involved. If you find a Penobscot with no scratches or dents for $1,000, you say “Shut up and take my money!”