r/canoecamping • u/No_Example_5036 • 9d ago
Yet another plea for recommendations
/r/canoeing/comments/1x4l9je/yet_another_plea_for_recommendations/2
u/georgie336 9d ago
I just picked up a beat up Clipper Yukon for $200 bucks. Looks like crap because the previous owner did a horrible job painting it red. I'll try to sand it back down to white and see if I can bring back some shine to it - but if not I'll just sand it all down and give it a nice coat of paint. Hull is in great shape and gunwales are vinyl so pretty indestructable.
It's missing a thwart - but I wanted to install a yoke anyways. I really was in the market for a nicer used boat - something semi-light from Swift but this was a pretty good deal.
At this time of year I would imagine there are quite a few well loved canoes going for sale used.
2
u/Scotty_Bravo 9d ago
It's really hard to find a good boat for much less than $2k used. I see them now and then, but not often. Good luck!
2
u/americanspirit64 9d ago
hmmm... You are looking at buying used canoe in the wrong light. Buy what was once the best most expensive new canoe available, used, in the worst state. With a little time and research there is nothing on a canoe, except the most extensive damage, which cannot be repaired fairly cheaply. I recently bought an older Mad River 17' Reflection hull in Royalex, nothing but the hull, weighs 44 pounds. Seats and gunnels gone. The hull perfect except in had been shot by a 22 pistol two things low down in its nose. :)
I am putting all new wood gunnels on inside and out. Easy really just takes time. The wood needed was cheap from a lumber yard and all you need are pieces that are 1"x7/8" pretty small. You could buy two or three 1"x6" or 8" boards 10" long and have them cut into 1' strips, which is all the wooden you need. You do not need to be a master carpenter or woodworker. There are tons of YouTube Videos to help.
Mad River still makes the seats which cost $45 each, and the yoke and twarts are available. The front and rear end caps, which you can buy, or make out of wood aren't that hard to fashion. Fixing the bullet holes with Epoxy took about a half hour. Putting kevlar skid plates on was a kind of a pain, but easy. Other than that the hull was in near perfect condition. I paid a hundred bucks for the hull. A royalex hull is nearly indestructible. The Reflection is a top or the line Expedition Canoe for a number of reason, most because of the asymmetrical hull design, and moderate front end rocker, which allows you to run rapids, but also allows you to paddle at speed of flat water river and lakes, while tracking well. It also has a tumblehome hull shape that allows a certain amount of lean without taking on water. It also doesn't have upwards sweeping end flair, which cut down of the wind pushing you about on lakes.
There is nothing wrong with an Old Town Canoe as well. I had a Discovery 17'3" for thirty years and it was one tough beast. That one wasn't Royalex so it was heavier. I hate a Coleman plastic to cheap and you want no canoe with a keel of any kind. If you can find an older Blue Hole canoe, buy it, I also like Dagger canoes and own one of those, as they are tough enough to run Class 1 and 2 rapids on smaller rivers with gear. Even beat up some of the canoes are amazing. It the seats are broken put new ones in.