I'm the least qualified person to offer an opinion (but it's never stopped me before); I'd jump on this sale and install decks. Nice canoe, nice gunnels, unattractive stem/gunnel finish. Not a deal breaker though. I'd want to inspect it for blems or damage. Is this one of those "too good to be true"?
With wood gunwales I agree completely about a real deck plate or end cap. Even if just cutting a simple wood triangle and top mounting it with brass screws and finish washers, which is my preferred shop simpleton solution. I lack the precision skills to make an inset deck look good, and a top mounted deck is easier to remove, revarnish/oil/inspect and treat gunwale ends.
But synthetic decks are a different story, even the winky plastic end caps used by Wenonah/Bell/etc.
First the ^ angle needs to fit the stem angle, wide flare or narrow.
Then the shape of the molded deck plate/end cap tip needs to match the tip of the hull stem at the top. Think recurve (,
or vertical stem |,
or layout / .
Then add that the cross section profile of the deck plate/cap need to match the cross section of the outwale edge. Different manufacturer’s vinyl gunwales have a different cross section profile, with a box “channel” to accommodate the first 6 inches of molded gunwale.
Even with aluminum gunwales the outwale shape is different on a Bell than a Wenonah than a Mad River (Sawyer, Dagger, arrgghh!). Finding the right deck plate or end cap, especially from a defunct manufacturer, is challenge #1.
If you find one challenge #2 is not shouting “You’ve got to be f&*^%$% kidding me”!
$15 bucks each for a winky piece of molded plastic, akin to some corner guard that gets thrown away with equipment or machine packaging? $30 for two dollars worth of plastic verges on the obscene.
I don’t much like the looks of that cockpit coming stem edge treatment either, but the next best alternative might be to try DIY forming custom Kydex end caps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUVhAKXm254
I’d like to give forming Kydex a try someday, but I think using the kitchen oven might be a no no if I got caught.