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My 2002 Merlin II in KevCrystal had no foam ribs either, just in the floor. Scratch appearance is a pretty subjective thing, and much depends on depth; and you never what previous owners may have done to doctor the scratch to improve the appearance.

And the layup descriptions from 2003, note KevCrystal could be had with a clear gelcoat.

Sure looks like KevCrystal to me. Below is a screenshot from the 2003 catalogue which says 33 pounds, rarely does a Bell come in under weight. Most bathroom scales are not too accurate unless you have a digital one that you have calibrated (I did with weights at 20, 30 and 40 pounds). Nice find!

I'm not sure when the convention changed, but my 83 Hunter ended in 83K which would be 1983, November and my 82 Acadia was 82I, 1982 September. At some point it changed to month/year as my 86 Pack was 586, May 1986. So, either 1984 or 1985.

I toyed with the idea several years ago, but didn't care for the seating in the Rob Roy, or the performance. Opted for the Wenonah Mini-Canak instead. Enjoyed it very much until it too became a bit heavy and awkward to load on the racks.

Interesting that it sports the black gunnels and decks, rather than the white ones typical of 1975. They may have been replaced judging from the spacing of the rivets.

The curvature on the rear member of the Swift seat provided a bit of a challenge when mounting my Back-Saver. A couple of fabricated wedges prevented any twisting of the Back-Saver uprights. To be honest, I was a bit hesitant installing one with Swift's side-pod seat mounts, as I wondered if...

I had this problem with the last two Ed's contoured cane seats I bought (digging into my fleshy parts), largely because the cane was not stretched tight enough. Pity there's no pressure/deflection test to check web and cane tightness as there is for mattresses. The seat on my Swift Kee14 has...

Just wondering how you were able to mount the Backsaver to the curved rear of the Swift seat?

I am 185 and have pushed the limits on many a small hull, but there is a Facebook Group 'Freestyle Canoeing' that may be of help if nothing more is available here. Some specs for your perusal:

Check out the yoke/thwart mounting hardware at Clipper or Wenonah. You could mount the brackets on the inside of the gunnels and then attach the outrigger mounts to the brackets, or just add a wood thwart and attach the outrigger brackets to the thwart.

The hull had a slight v-bottom from the bow to amidships, then blended into a shallow arch, very little rocker. It was definitely fast, but hard to turn as my wife is not the best of bowmen/bow-women and less tolerant of tenderness. We did paddle it in slight chop and it did well, but never...

Well, if Paul or you ever decide to get the bare hull down out of the rafters for inspection, the stems may help narrow the possibilities some: the Family Special had the classic curved stems, whereas the Concords and the 16-6 had raked stems, the 16-6 less so and sharper. Also, the Concords...

Would it happen to be the one at the Canoe Repair Shop in Gloversville? If so, it is a bare hull, so hard to establish the beam. If not, then the beam can help narrow down the model, as Concord is 36 inches and the SRC 16-6 is between 33 and 34 inches. I had an SRC 16-6 in Kevlar, it was fast...

Especially on those Northstar aluminum gunnels.

to me that thwart looks too far forward- That's kind of a common design feature on most of the Northstar solos. When I was able to test paddle their entire line (solos) at the WPSCA before the pandemic, I spoke with their team about the rear thwart digging into the small of my back with the...

I also notice that you have the full sitting drops installed on your seat. By shortening the drops and raising the seat some, you will alter the pivot point of the Backsaver and allow for more recline. Most of the Northstar hulls are stable enough you probably won't notice the difference. I...

Do you really need to move it back that far? The curved thwarts Northstar uses on the pack canoes can buy maybe another inch. Otherwise, as much as I hate drilling more holes in the gunnels, I'd move the thwart.

Two things: Benson Gray has convinced me of the inaccuracies of the Old Town catalogues, and when they supplied Dicks with versions of their boats, there were frequent variations in color and outfitting. My 2010 Guide 119 (same as the Disco 119) was in camo, but the Disco 119 (not the Guide...