I have an opportunity to buy a pre-owned Souris River 18.5 (3-seater), model year 2015, from a respectable livery, at roughly 2/3 the MSRP. She’s in very fine shape EXCEPT for the high number of scratches on the hull. I wouldn’t expect anything else of a livery boat, but now that I’m on the verge of plunking down no small part of my income for this boat, I’m wondering if I should be concerned about all of those scratches. The conventional wisdom, as far as I know, is that these battle-scars have no real effect on performance or structural integrity. I want this baby to go fast on flat water loaded with two adults, two children, a dog, and a couple night’s worth of gear. My 1997 MR Independence has more scratches than a redwood has tree rings, but she’s mainly a river boat, so I think about it differently. Any thoughts?
I’ve been away from this forum for a few years (child-raising, need I say more?) but it’s good to be back.
With that burden its not going to be fast. But what is important is you need all that room for a proper safety margin.
I have a friend that runs trips and when the bottom of his SR fleet gets all scraped up back to the factory it goes for reskinning. Its doubtful your livery would do that.
When you say scratches are there so many that the bottom looks fuzzy? If so that is not desirable and indicates the bottom needs reepoxying. Which you could do yourself. Of course if the price were adjusted to make it worth your while.
Here’s a shot of the hull, for what it’s worth. The outfitter sells these off as they are. No chance of them reskinning it. I’d consider reexpoxying it on my own, though I’d have to determine whether the cost and time would be worthwhile, and, of course, I’d need to learn how to do it.
Those scratches do not look like a problem to me. You can just look closely to make sure that none of them are deep enough to get to the fabric. I had a Souris River solo and I would get another SR in a minute since light and strong are good traits for any canoe!
To me the price seems high…since you can often find deals on new boats that are around 20% off MSRP.
If you read the reviews of the boat on this site it sure looks like people like the boat. A heavy load affects acceleration but has little effect on cruising speed. Based on the reviews it looks like a fine boat for your needs!
Scratches themselves are not a problem. If the hull is stiff, no soft spots it would be good. Look especially where the rib edges are. That is a transition from a flexible to a rigid area of the hull and problems often show up there.
I especially like the Souris River lay-up. It is a tough hull. The epoxy resin is tough and makes it easier for you to repair or refinish. I am not particularly impressed with the design. I wish SR would hire a good designer and come out with some new canoes. The SR 18.5 is sluggish in my opinion, caused by the pinched in ends…
Refinishing is simple sanding and applying marine varnish( or epoxy then varnish it is really worn).
I was recently looking for a big, light tandem and ended up getting a Bell Northwind 18. I know I will have to make more repairs over the years on the Bell, but I have come to appreciate well designed hulls.
The SR 18.5 will carry your desired load with no problem and it will be a great family canoe, just not the speedster you might wish for.
Thanks for the feedback. Your points about speed are well taken. When I say “go fast,” I mean fast relative to my current tandem boat, a royalex Bell Alaskan (a great boat for the fast rocky creeks where I live in Pennsylvania, but a barge on the northern lakes where I’ll be using the SR). For my family purposes, toughness and capacity are more important than finesse and real speed.
About the price, I’m not seeing any better deals online for this model used. I see some new models at Canadian dealers at very reasonable prices, but I have no realistic way to get to those boats or to get them to me, unfortunately!
and you can do the epoxy touch ups as needed on fuzzy areas… Its a utilitarian canoe not a show piece… Have fun with the family!
( My SR is often covered in mud… Yukon River, Green River, Florida etc)
@kayamedic said:
and you can do the epoxy touch ups as needed on fuzzy areas… Its a utilitarian canoe not a show piece… Have fun with the family!
( My SR is often covered in mud… Yukon River, Green River, Florida etc)
@kayamedic said:
and you can do the epoxy touch ups as needed on fuzzy areas… Its a utilitarian canoe not a show piece… Have fun with the family!
( My SR is often covered in mud… Yukon River, Green River, Florida etc)
Natural UV protection.
UV is usually the last thing on my mind… While we paddle sunny places the other 49 weeks the canoe is in the barn
