I have a chance to buy a wenonah spirit ii its a 1992 model with ribs,it does have a few stress cracks in the gel coat but otherwise it seems to be pretty sound it is the turf weave version and I was wondering what a fair price would be.From what I can read these seem to be good genera ll purpose canoes.
Id pay
Id pay 600ish. Maybe a little more if its in otherwise pretty good condition. A little less if there are other flaws
As I Recall, I Paid Just Under 1K…
…in the early '90’s for a tuffweave Wenonah Adirondack. The Spirit II’s were about $100 or so more than the Adirondacks. So, I doubt it cost much over a grand new. $600 is a good price, less if it’s got damage. The tuffweave is a very tough layup and easy to fix.
Cross-Ribs?
If the ribs in the hull are just across the bottom of the hull and do not extend up the sides, it is a cross-rib model. the hull above the ribs flexes as the bottom of the hull is pushed up going over obstacles. Fine cracks in the gelcoat are normal for this model and do not hurt it.
If the ribs run from a foam core in the bottom of the hull up the sides to just below the gunwales, you have a core-stiffened layup. Its the same as the current ‘ultralight’ layup, but was offered in the past in both Kevlar and Tuffweave. It is the lightest and stiffest fiberglass hull ever made.
$600 is good for a cross-rib hull, $900 for a core-stiffened hull. At those prices you can’t buy a new hull in plastic that will paddle as nicely as the Spirit.
Bill
canoe
This is the cross rib model and I was able to get for 575.00 it does seem noisy though I like to fish and I will have to find a way to quite it down.I took it on the water and it seems to glide pretty good.