Best used boat buys

[Guest]

I know where there's a nice MR Liberty that one might convince the owner to sell (a bit too small for me). Might even be able to arrange delivery for some distance, if I can make the return trip with an Indy on the roof.

That reminded me of my favorite used Indy story.

Friend Dave was noted for his ability to make something out of nothing. When he blew the engine in his not worth fixing minivan he asked his mechanic if he had anything to trade for it.

1050’s 5hp Evinrude outboard.

Dave had no use for a 50’s outboard, so he took it to marina boat yard.

“Got anything you wanna trade for this?”

“Like what?”

“I dunno, maybe a canoe?”

“Well, I got these two, but I’d hate to part with either of them”, shaking his head and showing Dave a couple of used Grummans.

Dave kinda shugs and the guy allows, with some disgust, “Well I got this thing”

And walks Dave over to this thing, a forlorn purple kevlar Independence, dang near pristine under the dust.

Beats my best buy; a $200 RX Explorer where the seller kept finding accessories to throw in. Motor mount. Two paddles, no wait, here’s two more paddles (229T Clements), and a portage cart. You got any use for a T rack for the hitch receiver on your truck?

Stuff just kept coming

The Explorer needed new seats. I gave away the motor mount, T-rack and a couple of the paddles and we still use the canoe and cart.

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

Some years ago there was a NovaCraft Bobs Special in BlueSteel layup for sale on paddling.net for $675. When I called he said that he got 20 inquiries already and that someone was coming at 8PM. It turned out that the seller only lived 15 minutes away. I asked him when he was coming home from work and he said 5. Needless to say, I was there at 5 with cash in hand.

 

[Robin]

I think I paid $50 for this one, 16' FG Allagash


I fixed it up and it went fast


A $150 dollar RX Explore waiting to be restored, very little scratches, lite fading, needs wood replaced, a great buy from a little old lady,



I won't mention all the bad canoes I looked at, lotta gas wasted.

 

[madmike]

Well, there was that pristine MRC Monarch for $600. But I didn't like it.....

 

[Guest]

Well, there was that pristine MRC Monarch for $600. But I didn't like it.....

You are just an evil man, beating out my second-in-line Craigslist canoe Consigliere Conk for that Rochester Monarch. And for Coldfoot’s Long Island Monarch; he must owe you a finder’s fee for that one.

Still, I have you to thank for the Klepper Kamerad, a soloized decked hull I like more every time I paddle or sail it. And for DougD’s soloized Hyperform Optima, his Cadillac of boats. Finder’s fee due there too.

I haven’t been through Sherburne in a couple of years; I got something set aside for you next trip.

 

[Alan Gage]

About a year after the death of Royalex I went to Minneapolis for the annual Spring Expo at Midwest Mountaineering. In the green space next to the store they have a canoe/kayak auction that's always fun to attend. People show up early with whatever boat they want to sell and over the next few hours it all gets auctioned off. My dad told me to get him a nice tandem canoe if I saw one in the $500-700 range.

The only boat I saw that I thought would be a good fit for him was a really nice Old Town Penobscot 16 (Royalex). Royalex boats were bringing a premium and I had a lot of bidding competition. I was happy that my dad was showing interest in getting a nice canoe and getting his grand kids on the river so I hated to let it go. I figured it was only money (and not my money) and soon I found myself over his upper price limit and still bidding. I ended up with the winning bid and although I knew I'd get some ribbing would be able to smooth out the fact that I went a little over budget.

Then I remembered there would be a 10% buyers fee added to the total. Then I remembered they also charge 7% sales tax. Then I remembered it's an extra 2% if you pay by credit card (I never carry checks). All of a sudden the "little over budget" turned into a $1000+ Royalex canoe. Oh boy....

"Hey dad, I got you a really nice canoe."

"How much?"

"It's a Penobscot. Most Old Town canoes aren't that great but this model is very well thought off and highly sought after."

"How much?"

"It's Royalex, which is the perfect material for you. They stopped making it and now everyone is trying to snap them up."

"How much?"

So why does this qualify as a "Best used boat buy"? Because at the time silly me thought my dad was actually serious about getting back into canoeing but it turned out to be nothing more than a passing fancy (that I'm guilty of us well). In the few years since the boat was purchased he's only used it twice but I was kind enough to offer to store it in my boat shed so I've got a really nice Penobscot 16 at my disposal that didn't cost me a dime.

On a related note last fall I drove to Minneapolis and paid $350 for a Penobscot 174. I told my dad I just picked up a good canoe for a great price and before my brain could stop my mouth I blurted out that it was a Penobscot.

"Isn't that the same canoe I paid $1000 for?"

"Well...umm....yeah....but yours is in a lot nicer condition than this one..."

Alan

 

[Guest]

"Hey dad, I got you a really nice canoe."

I eagerly await the day one of my sons buys me a canoe. Even another Penobscot.

OK, it really doesn’t count as my best buy used canoe buy, as it was a fairly useless canoe, but back in the pre-internet days, back when we had to walk across 5 feet of carpet just to change the television channel, uphill, both ways, I saw a classified ad in the newspaper. Remember newspaper classifieds?

“24 foot kevlar canoe, $150”

I thought the 24 foot length must be a misprint, but burned up the phone line.

“Yeah, I still got the canoe, but I’m leaving to take my son to band practice”

“How ‘bout I meet you after you get home? What’s your address?”

I arrived before he got home. His home was a kinda disheveled hovel on the edge of the bay, with a roadside garage leaning over soon-to-collapse /___/ where I was parked waiting. He soon arrived and walked me around to his waterfront to see the boat.

Boats, plural. His bayside shack had a massive T-shaped dock out on the bay, with moored motor boats, cabin cruisers and sailboats, and more small boats dragged up in piles in the backyard. He had his bayside priorities in order.

I had neglected to actually bring $150 (pre-ATM days). I offered to write him a check for the balance but we settled for $127. Every bill I had on me.

24 foot kevlar Sawyer Saber. Useless for anything I was doing, but eagerly snapped up in trade a year later by a Texas Water Safari paddler.

http://www.texaswatersafari.org/

At 5 bucks and change per kevlar foot that was the best deal ever.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I dunno.. I got a good price for a Peregrine. It was mint. The buyer let it go for a thou less than he paid for it. Then a month later he up and died of cancer. Usually I look for a particular boat not a deal..

Looked for a Nomad.. 22 years old. Mint. Cheap.. then Shearwater used it for ten days and effectively paid for half.. He ergo gets to use it anytime he wants.

I am going to have to off someone in Illinois for another MRC.. the little guy is too savvy to let it go for a song.

Estate sales I think would be wonderful mother lodes.

I got a new Raven for six hundred.. The dealer just couldn't move it for four years.

 

[BobMills]

I saw an ad for a Souris River prospector 17' for $750 on Craig's List. I went and look at it. It had a hole punched in it in two places, the gunnel was bent slightly and the finish was mottled. I decided that it could be fixed, but I decided I'd leave it for someone else. The seller told me he'd taken that canoe on the Churchill River, Temagami and a bunch of other places. I listen to his good stories and then said goodbye. When I turned to leave he said "look you can have it for nothing". I looked at it again and said no - I'll give you $150, we agreed. I had a guy fix the holes and reinforce the area with kevlar and epoxy. I took a rubber mallet to the gunnel and straighten it out - not perfect but good enough. I painted the outside with marine red enamel. I was going to name it Red Canoe, but the name is already taken, it's now known as Old Red.

I've taken that canoe allover the place and even back to Temagami. I punched a hole in it going down some rapids in La Verendrye which I fixed myself so it has scars, and no one complements me on its beauty. But Old Bob and Old Red are made for each other.

 

[sweeper]

I picked up the #1000 hull of an 18' Prescott wood/canvas for $0. Needs canvas and finish, but its solid.

 

[stripperguy]

I picked up this 17' 9" Sawyer Cruiser last winter for $200 from the original owner. It's got a cracked seat, but who cares? I don't paddle it much, but it makes a great loaner when I run out of strippers.
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And a few years back I got this Mohawk 13XL in Royalex for $200, complete with bow and stern bags and pedestal. Hardly used, heavy as can be, but perfect for bouncing off ADK rock.
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But wait! There's more! I also bought an AMF Puffer, a cute little 12' sailboat, from the original owner. He found sailing to be "too complicated". It was like new, and I paid $200 for it. Hmmm, seems to be a pattern.

And years later, I bought another sailboat that I saw languishing in a suburban side yard for years...had to track down the house and boat owners (pre internet, not easy) and eventually bought the Catalina Capri 14.2 for (wait for it...) yup, $200!! Again, the owner admitted he was enamored of the idea of sailing, but did not like the realities of sailing.

Here's the Capri, with the kids using it as a swim platform...

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[Steve in Idaho]

Wow! $200 for that Catalina was an outrageous steal!

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I still feel like I made out like a bandit, paying $1400 for this almost pristine kev Malecite....



BTW - the minor little defect in the seat caning that I wrote about here at the time.....I fixed it with a little fishline and g-flex, and it's been holding up just fine.

But the best buy I've made was this Wildernes Chesapeak that I bought for my wife...



Not pristine, but in very good condition - for $150. My wife really likes it, and my daughter does too.


I've passed on better deals. A pristine Bell Black Gold Merlin II for $900, for one (didn't know jack about solo canoes at the time). There have been several $1-200 potential restorations that wold have been well worth it, but I didn't have the time or room for that at the time.

 

[Iskweo]

I have a pretty hard upper limit of $500 but that would have to be an exceptional unit for me to cough up real cash. The most we have spent so far was 400. I try to shoot for 200 on most boats. Of course they need work, lots of it.

On the other hand, the strippers we build usually cost us from 1000 - 1200 in materials. The key with all of the expenditures is that they are over time, while the purchase prices are up front. I try to save money there so we can put the materials into a quality finished product.

Christy