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Used price for a 2004 kevlar ultralight Wenonah Voyager?

Mike McCrea

Mike McCrea

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Location
The Hereford Zone along the Mason-Dixon Line
With optional black anodized gunwales 2004 MSRP’ed at $1850, current MSRP $3350. 34lbs, plus a bit of lightweight custom outfitting. I’ll weigh it and get some photos up soon.

This Voyager was outfitted by Blue Mountain Outfitters’ renowned shop wizard Kris (Chris?). His outfitting, on any boat, from Mike Yee style WW everything to UL tripping canoe essentials, was a thing of cunning beauty. Unlike McCrea outfitting, work of thoughtful, functional, lightweight cunning and execution. I’ll get some photos up of that in a day or two; Kris did some amazing work; the seat pedestal outfitting trickery alone is worth copying.

The Voyager was a late friend’s and I need to sell for his widow, sooner rather than later. Not the ideal time of year to be selling canoes, but I have other friend’s boats taking up every possible spare rack space and then some, so I’m not looking to hold out for top dollar, or wanting to wait ‘til spring.

Time & materials for that professional outfitting would have run a couple hundred bucks, and that may be selling Chris/Kris hourly rate short; before he retired I think he was charging $80 an hour. And was worth every penny; he was not only good, he was fast. I’m thinking $1300-ish? Pricing thoughts or recommendations?

Also soon for sale Poly Wilderness Systems Piccolo, perhaps the best kid or small adult minature plastic sea kayak ever made.

Length: 13’6”

Width: 20.5”

Weight: 45lbs

Cockpit Size: 31 x 15 inches

Capacity: 175lbs

Photos also forthcoming. Surprisingly stable, surprisingly fast; the perfect young kid or grandkid boat. Provided you don’t mind a kaya. . . .small fast boat with a deck.

Also provided you can keep up with them. Do the length to waterline ratio math. 7.90

I’m thinking, priced to get the Piccolo gone and in another youngster’s hands, $325 - $350. Again, pricing thoughts or recommendations? Although I could find space to hold that one ‘til Spring.

Once these two are gone there are others, starting with another nice canoe, a Royalex Bell Yellowstone Solo, that once had wood gunwales. It now has mulch along the sheerline. And, adding insult to a Yellowstone, I may put vinyl gunwales and deck caps on it, or try to sell it as a re-gunwale (seat, thwart) fixer upper.

That one is un-outfitted in any form. Unless I have my way with it first. No maintenance vinyl gunwales. Dynel skid plates. Knee bumpers. D-rings and webbing loops. Strap yoke. Anvil.
 
FYI, I bought a used/demo (virtually new--don't even think it had any scratches) 2017 Kevlar UL Voyager w/black gunnels from an outfit for $2000 in 2017--retail then was $2800.
 
Having spent some up close and personal time with the Voyager I can attest that Kris Wolpert’s (sp?) outfitting is, as expected, superb. Among his little outfitting touches, a cleat to hold the bowline near at hand reachable. Topher must be left handed.

PA240001 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Several D-rings, two in the stern.

PA240003 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

And one on each high up beside the seat, for unknown but I’m sure functional reasons. ???

PA240004 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Minicel knee bumpers with attachments for a removable yoke. I’ll have to ask the widow if she can find that yoke (strap, ?) attachment in her late husband’s collection of paddling gear. I have no idea what it even looks like, so chances of success in describing it to her are minimal.

PA240007 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Not being the sharpest tack in the box I moved the Voyager several times before realizing that, for a short carry, I could just put the UL hull sideways on my shoulder. Not just knee bumpers, short carry shoulder bumpers (SCSB’s)

Cable clips for lacing every 7” bow and stern, with pop rivet mandrels seated cleanly inside the gunwale channels. I replaced the line, and even there found some surprises.

PA240009 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Even those lacing cord points have another wee Wolpert touch; the next to last cord crossovers doesn’t run through cable clips, but through deck hooks on either side, so several feet of line can be quickly unhooked providing slack for dry bag access or float bag installation. I wish I had spent a day observing Kris outfitting some boat. I’d have paid him just to watch, he was an outfitting genius.

PA240013 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

I’m not sure what purpose the W of laced cord behind the seat serves, but I’m sure it has some function. Any guesses? (I see things in photos I missed in real life, I need to clean up the bottom of that seat pedestal)

PA240011 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

The Kris/Topher outfitting touches on the pedestal below the seat are worth copying; purposeful bungee and cord lock restraints. Purposes I’m guessing front loop for a canteen, and the lateral bungee for a sponge.

PA240016 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Even that simple canteen bungee is Wolpert tricky; he attached a plastic plate to the pedestal frame, and drilled the bungee holes through that instead of the frame.

PA240019 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

There is another double bungee run towards the back of the seat, behind the currently occupied sponge spot. One for the sponge, one hidden under the seat for a small Pelican box full of smokables?

PA240018 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Total outfitted weight on the hanging shop scale (albeit before I ran the lacing) just under 36lbs. Kris Wolpert really is a genius.

Of course it has a custom Duckhead sticker on it, a plus or minus depending on your perspective.

PA240022 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Flipped over on the dewy lawn the bottom is essentially scratch and scrape free; amazing condition for a 2004 boat.

PA240023 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Even the stems show little sign of wear

PA240027 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Last permit, atop a stack of permits, was in 2008. Condition-wise it helps that those were “You are only-allowed-to-get-out-at-the-launch” reservoir permits.

PA240028 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

4 years of gentle wet foot reservoir paddling, 13 years of waiting for a new owner. I still don’t know how much to ask for it, but the more time I spend up close and personal the more I think it could be worth.

I’ve been bemoaning my unfulfilled desire for a UL reservoir canoe for years now. I should at least take the Voyager out for a test paddle. That won’t require very long test paddle; me in a 28” wide canoe with 21 ½” gunwales. . . . eh, the water is already getting chilly for a swim.

I’ll put it on the Canoe Tripping Classifieds after my swim test. Or make me an offer and save me that embarrassment.

Back to inspecting the Piccolo, also a way cool little boat.
 
mmccrea said:
I’m not sure what purpose the W of laced cord behind the seat serves, but I’m sure it has some function. Any guesses?
Click to expand...

That's a traditional way of lacing in float bags to prevent them from moving fore or aft. Usually the W or Y is strung with two or one D-rings on the floor. However, I don't know why anyone would want to fully bag this flatwater canoe up to the back of the seat, unless they were partial or center-type rectangular bags.

Some of your pictures aren't showing up unless clicked upon.
 
I recognized the end cage lacing pattern, and didn’t see any other use, but can’t imagine that float bag installation; I’d rather have tapered bags in the want-them-light stems than a rectangular bag immediately behind the seat. Topher did paddle with his dogs Molly and Ruthie; maybe it held a Dachshund bulkhead.

I looked at asking prices for used Voyagers, anywhere from $1000 need-to-sell Tuf-weave to $1500+ kevlar UL. Coming up with a reasonable price on a niche tripping canoe isn’t easy. My usual calculations are 2/3 the original MSRP, plus half the cost of accessories and outfitting.

66% of 2004’s $1850 MSRP = $1232, 50% of (at least) $200 of professional outfitting time and materials = $100.

$1300 still sounds reasonable. But new ones, un-outfitted, now run $3350. The more I dither on price the later in the year it becomes.

The Piccolo is already spoken for, the owner’s slender 20-something daughter (wisely) decided she wanted it. Such a cool little miniature sea kayak, drain plug, day hatch, deck bungee, thigh braces and surprisingly fast. Anyone looking for a fast, easy paddling boat for a kid, grandkid or small adult, this is the boat in poly:

http://kayakdave.com/2012/06/13/wilderness-systems-piccolo-review-best-kids-kayak/

This one also had a resident mouse, who stayed in the Piccolo all the way home, and is now probably living in one of my canoes, and writing the story of his highway adventures.

Mr. Mouse apparently inherited the Piccolo home from his great-great-great-great grandfather, and generations of mice had raised their young within. Evidenced by the chewed up float bag, cozy mouse housing seat pad, abundance of mouse feces and overpowering stench of mouse urine. And seeds, acorns and decayed mush.

I washed and blast rinsed the inside multiple times, brought it inside to do some work, and the entire shop reeked of mouse piss the next morning. Closer inspection revealed a wedged wad of feces and urine soaked mush still stuck in the stern. That was fun to remove.

I am not returning a boat that reeks of mouse piss. I washed the inside with K.O.E (Kennel Odor Eliminator, thanks again Foxy Otter). Then mixed some K.O.E in a spray bottle and spritzed the inside everywhere. Now it smells like a nice clean kennel.

The good news is that now I don’t have to find a buyer for that one.
 
WELL that's good... I regularly check out his Copious Glass site...He's an amazing artist. We've paddled more than a few times,... at Alegheny and when he and his wife visited her parents( i live about 50 miles from them) we paddled so he didn't have to keep company with them....
 
Voyager is sold.

Even before listing it for sale I nearly had a bidding war over the Voyager. Those canoes don’t come up for sale very often, usually changing hands between paddling friends, and that was the case this time.

Two friends of both Topher, original owner and Brian, the second owner. Two friends who have owned a Voyager, but not the ultra light version. Two friends who appreciate fine lightweight outfitting. Two friends who wanted to see Brian’s Voyager stay in the paddling “family”.

Before the Voyager went bye bye I noticed yet another wee Wolpert outfitting touch; the front edge of the foot brace rails are covered with car door edging, so there isn’t a hard/sharp edge to possibly abrade dry bags or other gear.

PA300002 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

So many thoughtful outfitting touches. Not sure what purpose the cable clips on the foot brace rails serve, something functional I’m sure.

The new owner and his constant companion seemed pleased.

PA300003 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

How much? The buyer cut to the chase and offered $2000.

Today I get to drive around the beltway, deliver off a wad of hundreds and the scrubbed clean Piccolo for the daughter to keep, and have a looksee at which of my late friend Brian’s boats to perhaps tackle next. Could be the Bell Yellowstone Solo, on which the gunwales and all other brightwork are rotted to mulch.

As a total rebuild fixer-upper that canoe may be worth $200. MSRP on it was $900, but it was a Bell Pro-deal on a review boat, so more like a $600 purchase price. Fully repaired and (lightly) outfitted I would like that one to stay in the paddling family as well. Lotta Brian memories in that canoe.

EK_0043 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr
 
I bookmarked this post for all the great Wenonah outfitting ideas I plan to steal I mean use on my Prism.

What is the significance of the menacing duck sticker? Ye olde internets search did not shed light on it.
 
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