What model of Mad River Canoe is this?

Of course it wouldn’t interest you Glenn

– Last Updated: Sep-20-12 9:34 PM EST –

How many boats do you have? You don't need it. It wouldn't interest me either. I've already got 3 general purpose tandems. I probably don't need all of those.

But when I didn't have a canoe at all, you bet it would interest me. I couldn't find a decent used tandem when I wanted to buy my canoe. So I ended up spending twice as much on a brand new one that became well used its first outing.

It all comes down to your local market. How many good used canoes do you see? And how many can you count on seeing when your first season hits?

IMO it's always better to get started than wait, indefinately, to try to save a 100 bucks.

Just my 2 cents.

Fair price…
If the wood is in good shape and there’s no damage or bad repairs, it’s worth $600.00. Does the same thing a new one does.



It is definitely fiberglass.

Very true
I wouldn’t want it for free because I’m too lazy to get involved with reselling.



But I was trying to picture myself as a canoeless new buyer, albeit with my current knowledge and prejudices. I’m not sure where I got the $800 number from now that I reread the thread, but I’m just saying that a 30 year old, 70+ lb., fiberglass Explorer wouldn’t interest me much unless the price was down in the $300-$400 level. I don’t like heavy canoes, especially old ones. I’d rather spend much more on a used Kevlar version of a reasonable tandem.



I firmly agree its better to start paddling than to procrastinate a long time looking for the perfect canoe. But I would keep looking for a while past that Explorer – even more so if it is a Malecite, a hull I have never liked.


I wouldn’t pay $800, but I would not
offer the $550 I would be willing to pay for it. I don’t bargain down if I sense the seller is not yet ready to go there.



If I were considering that FG canoe versus a Kevlar Explorer to give to my kids for New Orleans paddling, I would take the FG. Apart from some hydrolysis blisters, probably never seen in later editions, my '73 FG Compatriot had outstanding glass work. And I’d rather patch a good FG layup than any all-Kevlar layup. I have an all Kevlar Noah kayak, and while it’s a beautiful, fast boat, it isn’t rigid, it isn’t really light, and repairing all-Kevlar can be a nuisance.



One good layer of glass on the outside of a Kevlar layup cures most of a Kevlar boat’s deficiencies.

By “Kevlar”, I meant FG/Kev or C/Kev

MR usually has not offered Explorers
with carbon or FG as exterior layers. That’s why I wouldn’t touch their Kevlar boats. I don’t like Wenonah’s all Kevlar layup either.

MR ultralight layup had S-glass
outer layer and no gel coat, at least from the late 1990’s through the early 2000’s. The only Kevlar layup offered in the 2006 catalog is KX, which had an S-glass outer layer as well. I haven’t kept up with what they are offering now.

MRC’s Kevlar lightweights had…
an exterior layer of S-glass (and no gel coat). The regular gel coated Kevlar hulls did not have S-glass b/c the gel coat provided the abrasion resistance/protection for the Kevlar cloth. S-glass over Kevlar on a gel coated hull is overkill and extra weight.

I would agree
I have two Kevlar MRC canoes, an Explorer and a Traveler both of which have served me well. MRC’s all cloth Kevlar boats were not the lightest, but they were very tough. Despite considerable use, the gel coat on both canoes is pretty much intact except for one or two tiny chips and minor checkering.



For the type of use most people are going to subject a boat like the Explorer to, the odds are slim that the hull would ever require patching. Both these boats have taken some substantial hits, and neither have come close to cracking.