Canoes you wish you had back

[Guest]

I expect most of us have done it, let go of a canoe we wished we hadn’t. I now know that I should have taken the demo pro-deal on the Placid RapidFire, and on the Clipper Sea-1, but stupidly judged them still too pricey for my then-wallet. Dumb arse.

There are only a couple boats I wish I had back, even if just to work on again; the OT Rushton is one of them.

That classic early 70’s Old Town Rushton is one. It deserved more skilled repairs than my utter ignorance at the time allowed.

The second was another Old Town, a kevlar Northern Light solo. 15’ 4”, 29” waterline, 13 ½” deep at center, 45lbs.

https://photos.bwca.com/h/HANSSOLO-060318-114603.JPG

(Kudos once again to Hans Solo for scanning and saving so many old catalog cuts. If he is still around we need to get him on this board)

I hated the sliding seat in that canoe, it was too high for my sloppy style to stay un-dumped in the roundish bottomed hull, and the adjustable fore and aft positions were all wrong for me. Or maybe for most anyone else that weighed more than 150lbs.

I later came to realize that the seat height had been altered by the original owner to be a 100% kneeler, and I think they also managed to re-installed it bass-akwards. I didn’t know enough at the time to yank out that damnable sliding seat out and install a fixed, sitter’s contour seat in my chosen location, and couldn’t sell it fast enough

$500. The buyer drove away like he stole it, and I was happy to see that super-saturator head up the driveway so I would never fall out of it again.

I might still have rolled out of the Northern Light every time I bumped a rock, hit an eddy line, or got sideways to a lake wave, but dang I wish I’d at least tried installing a lower fixed seat. Maybe that was just me; DougD managed to keep it upright one night-float on the sheltered bay, but then he somehow had my beverages in his boat for ballast.

What’s your shouldn’t have sold it regrets?

 

[DaveO]

Sold a Bell Rob Roy long ago. I never liked how it paddled with a single stick. I just never wanted to take it out. I should have given it more seat time but I wanted funds for a Magic. I should have at least given it a chance as a pseudo pack canoe with a double blade. It was relatively lightweight.

 

[Matt C]

A flawless 1998 Mad River Independence; what the heck was I thinking................

 

[dougd]

Sold a Bell Rob Roy long ago. I never liked how it paddled with a single stick. I just never wanted to take it out. I should have given it more seat time but I wanted funds for a Magic. I should have at least given it a chance as a pseudo pack canoe with a double blade. It was relatively lightweight.

Dave, From what I've read and been told the Rob Roy is the Bell Magic with a deck. I love mine and only double blade it.

 

[goonstroke]

I came to canoeing in middle age, and a consequence of that is that I haven't let many go -- I've owned 7 canoes, and still have 6 of them.

For a while I regretted not buying a Tripper XL 20 footer I examined at an Old Town yard sale, but it wasn't cheap, and it was even less light. My 18' Rx Champlain is heavy enough, thank you.

...
(Kudos once again to Hans Solo for scanning and saving so many old catalog cuts. If he is still around we need to get him on this board)
...

I second that, he's done a great service to the community. The time I scored my Sawyer Cruiser I wouldn't have known what it was without the cheat sheet I brought with me, a printout of a Hans Solo scan of an old Sawyer catalog. The seller knew it was a Sawyer but didn't know the details (he was a kid when his parents bought it).

 

[Turtle2]

Sold lots of solos--miss most of them at times. Turtle

 

[pblanc]

There have only been four canoes that I have sold. Three of them were boats I had purchased new, a Dagger Impulse, Dagger Legend 16, and a Mohawk Viper 12, all in Royalex. The other was a composite Bell Flashfire I bought damaged and used and repaired. I liked the Flashfire but I was really too big for it and now have a Black Gold Wildfire that I also bought used, repaired, and rerailed so I really don't miss the Flashfire that much. And I have no regrets about parting with the Impulse since I have a number of whitewater canoes of similar size I like better.

There have been a few times I would have liked to have the Mohawk Viper and the Dagger Legend back and I am sure that I could now sell either of them for considerably more than I let them go for. But the truth is I have more than enough canoes including models similar to those to boats. There have been some boats that I had a chance to buy and now regret passing up.

 

[Iskweo]

I regretted selling my 15 foot Huron before it even left the driveway, but needed the money so off it went. The part that kills me is they didnt like it and I have no idea where it ended up or if it is being taken care of. It could be bookshelves for all I know.
The other was an 18 foot Kildonan frieghter that I got a super deal on. I should have kept it, but sold it to Doug Ingram for one of his customers up north.

I may be sending a Pete Champlain hull down the road this weekend. It needs more work than I have time for but again, it is a boat that would work very nice for me once restored. I console myself with the knowledge that I have a sweet 16 foot Langford that will be with me to the bitter end. And a soon to be restored 17 foot Pecaco.

 

[Jim Dodd]

One of my early strippers.

A CanoeCraft Hiawatha. I built, and sold.

It was a small tandem, but thoroughly enjoyed it as a solo.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Dave, From what I've read and been told the Rob Roy is the Bell Magic with a deck. I love mine and only double blade it.

Yeah not so. I've compared the two, and they are nowhere close. The Rob Roy is much shorter, and lacking of any tumblehome.

Both excellent canoes though.

 

[Guest]

I've compared the two, and they are nowhere close. The Rob Roy is much shorter, and lacking of any tumblehome.

I don’t want to attribute something without surety of memory, but someone with long Bell history attributed the design/bottom shape of the Rob Roy to the Magic’s influence.

The Magic is a foot longer, and undecked is of course wider open gunwaled and deeper at the stems, but they are very close in max width (1/2” difference) and identical in waterline width and in differential rocker. Even the bow and stern shape/layout are similar.

The Magic has a little better LW (7.52) compared to the foot shorter Rob Roy (7.05), but neither is pokey, and the lessened wind catch of the Rob Roy compensates. Paddling-wise, with the important parts actually in the water, I found them remarkably similar. With the caveat that I am a rarely kneeling low sitter, and usually a double blader.

Both excellent canoes though.

That they are; a busted but repairable (read cheap) Rob Roy is on my unicorn list.

 

[DaveO]

The Rob Roy seating was in the bilge, precluding any decent single stick stroke by me. The coaming was a bit flimsy-floppy. Mine was not gel coated. I recall considering adding custom wood "gunwales" around the coaming to firm it up. I also recall musing about making a removable yoke.

I was heavier back then, so I did not fit the Rob Roy well. No way I could have knelt in it comfortably. Others with more skills in that department might be able to. I could kneel in the Magic but, to me, it is designed as a sit and switcher, and is best used that way.

I now know more about how to maximize a boat's strengths and minimize/avoid the boat's weaknesses. The Rob Roy would have been a delight for my wife and daughter now. But, it was the right decision to sell it at the time.

Doh! Never mind. This thread is about selling regrets.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I don’t want to attribute something without surety of memory, but someone with long Bell history attributed the design/bottom shape of the Rob Roy to the Magic’s influence.

The Magic is a foot longer, and undecked is of course wider open gunwaled and deeper at the stems, but they are very close in max width (1/2” difference) and identical in waterline width and in differential rocker. Even the bow and stern shape/layout are similar.

The Magic has a little better LW (7.52) compared to the foot shorter Rob Roy (7.05), but neither is pokey, and the lessened wind catch of the Rob Roy compensates. Paddling-wise, with the important parts actually in the water, I found them remarkably similar. With the caveat that I am a rarely kneeling low sitter, and usually a double blader.



That they are; a busted but repairable (read cheap) Rob Roy is on my unicorn list.

I've played with the Magic hull shape, trying to simulate it on a couple of builds. It really is flat bottomed, compared to most hulls I've given close inspection.

Would like to see a "Bell" Rob Roy, up close. There are different Rob Roys out there. Most have more hull rocker, and stem rocker.
I'll have to check North Star's out !

 

[Jim Dodd]

I'm still looking for a good deal on a Bell Magic though, I've never owned one.

I spent a day in one on a River clean up. I was impressed, and one is on my Wish list.

 

[Guest]

The Rob Roy would have been a delight for my wife and daughter now.

Doh! Never mind. This thread is about selling regrets.

Maybe some minor regrets with regard to the wife and daughter’s available paddling craft?

The guy I bought my (bless him, underpriced) Monarch from had decided that a pair of UL Rob Roys were the way to go for he and his wife, and the Monarch had not moved off the storage racks in years.

I'm still looking for a good deal on a Bell Magic though, I've never owned one.

I spent a day in one on a River clean up. I was impressed, and one is on my Wish list.

Jim, me too, although I’d prefer a Rob Roy. I am typically less than comfortable in a canoe with narrow gunwales and waterline width, but the Magic felt surprisingly stable, albeit with Bell’s lower seat hangers.

 

[ppine]

Only one a Sawyer Charger in kevlar. It was from 1978. At 18 1/2 feet it was big deep and fast. It had plenty of rocker. It carried a big load, shed waves and was fast. Mine finally started to fall apart. I put a layer of glass in the bottom and sold it for $400. I told the buyer that is was made in 1978.

 

[Black_Fly]

Mad River Horizon 17 in Royalex.

 

[Woodpuppy]

So far no regrets. The only canoe I’ve sold was a plastic OT Disco 164. Was a great boat, but after easily tossing Kevlar and carbon fiber up on the truck rack I’ll never look back at those heavy boats.

 

[Stillwater's]

I miss two of the three I've sold; a Blackhawk Covenant 115, and a Kevlar Malecite. Both 80's vintage. Have only one boat now, a Blacklite Trillium, which keeps me happy. All have/have wood trim.

 

[devils son in law]

For me, it was a Sawyer Loon. I really liked it but it was fiberglass and very heavy. It went to a younger local guy who is still using it and it's still looking good.