I just thought I'd say hi to the forum and give a little back round. I got my first canoe this year a Pelican Explorer 14.6 to fly fish out of with my daughter in some of the small lakes in the Cascades. For fish it worked well but was to heavy, so back to shopping. I found a gently used 20 year old Lincoln Explorer 16' and at 50lb it fit the bill. So now I'm the proud owner beautiful green gel-coat Kevlar canoe with ash rails and walnut decks. I have a few crack in the gel-coat to fix this winter but I already have the gel-coat on the way.