One of the P-Netters is selling a 10 yr old Royalex canoe in the Classified Ads section. The price and condition of the boat seem fair, but I’m a little concerned how its been stored (mostly in the shade but uncovered) for the past 4 years or so. Should I be concerned about the life of the hull stored in such a fashion. The canoe would be used by Scouts in up to Class II water.
Thanks
Bill
From your description Royalex would be
no problem. Look for faded areas and check for hard/brittle spots if bad fading or other suspect areas.
Royalite could be a problem, brittle. What makes it Royalite is the lack of outer protectant skin. Don’t do an outside stored Royalite for kids safety and your liability.
Happy Paddl’n!
:^)
Mick
geez,
I hope not because that’s how I’ve been storing mine (but only for a year so far). The guy at the boat store said that, while not ideal, it wouldn’t be much of problem to store it outside as long as I keep the snow from piling up on it.
That said I opted for nylon rather than wood gunwales to minimize maintanance and the chances for the Royalex to get cold cracks during the winter.
It’s in the shade once the lilac leaves come out and I put 303 on it at the end of the season when those leaves aren’t out.
no problem
I’m not a expert or anything but I purchesed a used royalex canoe (my first one) that had been stored outside by an experienced paddler for 20 years. It’s faded and well used but will still take a beating and keep on going (and now it has plenty of character to boot). Wouldn’t worry a lick about it.
Royalex outside
Scouter: it shouldn’t be a problem. I stored mine outside in Garrett County, MD where cold and snow are a real issue. I did cover mine with a nylon cover, but that did nothing to protect the canoe from the cold – while the instructions say not to do this, I have found no cracks at the gunnies, no bulges, no problems what so eve, over the past 8 years. The canoe was used for four years by my son’s troop, so it has been tested in circumstances similar to yours.
Happy Paddling!
Jim