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Nova Craft Royalex Canoe (asking for opinions)

Joined
Sep 9, 2020
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Location
Syracuse, NY
There is a Craigslist posting in my area for a Nova Craft Royalex canoe which looks to be in excellent shape, which has been listed for more than a few weeks. I currently have a Grumman aluminum canoe which mostly serves as a duck hunting boat. I’d like something for lake use and possibly some moving water canoeing in the future. I am not planning on a solo trip, so it would almost always be two people plus gear. Also, my son in law may want to use it for some of his camping trips.
What is the general opinion of this canoe? I read some reviews online and they were generally very good. I understand they no longer make Royalex canoes, and from the photos it looks like it was not used very much. Current asking price is $1500 US.

Here is the listing: https://syracuse.craigslist.org/boa/d/brewerton-nova-craft-canoe-pal-royalex/7323797422.html

I’m sure there will be questions, so fire away.
Thanks,
 
This is a great boat at a decent price. If I had the room this would be in my fleet. This has been posted for a while. I think you should make the seller an offer.
 
The Pal is a nice do-a-bit of everything general purpose (not WW) canoe. Even solos decently when bow backwards when trimmed.

$1500 USD seems at the high end. But maybe not; a new Pal in basic TuffStuff composite runs $2500 today. Anyone know what a RX Pal cost in 2013?

With current used canoe prices still high, and a scarcity of decent used canoes available, my usual buyer or seller’s benchmark of 66% percent of the original purchase price bears no relation to the market.

I still believe (or perhaps hope) that in a couple years there will be a gut of used canoes available at reasonable prices, purchased by folks who spent their relief checks as a mad money, who suddenly want “That thing we never use” out of their garage. If I’m price lucky they’ll have tossed it on the ground behind the garage and rotted the gunwales off.

A number of friends have taken this opportunity to “reduce fleet”, and gotten top dollar for their used canoes. $800 for a 20+ year old OT Pack? I should have filled the racks with those 3 years ago when they went for $250-$300 apiece.
 
Definitely a quality boat and it would probably suit your needs. A few years ago you probably could have gotten the same canoe for $1000 or less. But with the demise of Royalex and the relative shortage of new canoes those days are long gone. And with inflation stoking up the prices of new boats that are roughly equivalent are only going to get higher and higher.
 
The Pal is a classic design that is good on both lakes and mild whitewater. 2013 is the second to last year that Nova Craft made Royalex canoes, as can be seen in their catalog collection HERE. The Pal will be a much quieter canoe than aluminum -- e.g., wave slapping -- and at 58 lbs. should be lighter.

I've been looking at used canoes ads for months and think this is a very reasonable price for a Royalex canoe that seems to be in top condition. You still should inspect it first.

Another option not too far from you, less expensive but probably not in as good shape, is THIS Royalex Mad River Explorer being sold on consignment for $995 by Dave Curtis at Hemlock Canoe.
 
I own one just like it. its a sweet flatwater canoe, but depending on paddler weight and gear load not a heavy load carrier. In other words 2 heavy paddlers and a heavy gear load would be pushing it. it's 34" width makes it a good big solo. defiantly not a whitewater boat even in moderate water--i dumped mine in a local creek where my prospector had no problem.
 
That price is probably more or the same as what the owner payed for it new. During that time period I was routinely buying NC royalex canoes for 1700 to 1800 Canadian. The Pal is a nice canoe for soloing, and as previous posters said, it is not a high volume canoe. I had built two Pals for our club, we used them for small paddlers, under 140 pounds, with smaller loads. I used to run them through whitewater for the kids, and they are not designed for that. However, if you stay within the design limits for two people, it is a nice canoe. I would not consider it a great wilderness tripping canoe for two people. It is a good wilderness canoe for a solo person with a large load.
 
Thanks everyone! I am going to cross this one off my list and keep my eyes and ears open for something that I can use for 2 people and a lot of gear for the annual hunting, fishing, hiking, camping trip, plus a little moving water capability for some other trips not yet determined.
 
Thanks everyone! I am going to cross this one off my list and keep my eyes and ears open for something that I can use for 2 people and a lot of gear for the annual hunting, fishing, hiking, camping trip, plus a little moving water capability

Otto, good call.

The Pal is a nice day boat, or backwards solo tripper. With two adults and a large gear load, as Turtle mentioned, not so much. I’ve test paddled a few canoes that seemed “bigger” than they were dimensionally speced, the Pal was one of the few that somehow seemed smaller with two paddlers and even a moderate gear load.

Glenn’s suggestion of the used, Curtis-rehabbed, sub-$1000 RX MRC Explorer may be worth consideration. If you are (presently) comfortable and capable or shouldering a 70lb Royalex canoe.

Those days of even humping a 70lb canoe, even just from storage racks to truck racks, are long past for me, and I suspect likewise for Glenn.
 
It is a 16' Royalex Mad River Explorer. A few years ago I would have considered the price too high, but the asking prices for Royalex boats has gone way up with the demise of Royalex, the cost of substitute materials, and the general shortage of new boats so it might be as good as you are likely to find anytime in the near future. The MRC Explorer is a pretty decent jack of all trades canoe that is capable of carrying a substantial load. While no speed demon, it has reasonable efficiency and enough maneuverability to handle Class I and some Class II water. That boat will weigh around 70 lbs or a little more. Even if the cane on the seats looks good now, don't be surprised if you need to recane the seats or convert them to webbed seats if they are original. The cane will likely start to break when you begin to use it.
 
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It is a 16' Royalex Mad River Explorer. While no speed demon, it has reasonable efficiency and enough maneuverability to handle Class I and some Class II water. That boat will weigh around 70 lbs or a little more. Even if the cane on the seats looks good now, don't be surprised if you need to recane the seats or convert them to webbed seats if they are original. The cane will likely start to break when you begin to use it.

For most of our tripping life, Kathleen and I paddled a 16-foot Royalex Mad River Explorer. We often loaded it for 30-day trips, and once for an anticipated 40-day trip. We loved that boat. I agree with pblanc that it is a relatively slow boat, but we were never in a hurry. We were content with its maneuverability. Even fully loaded, we often paddled Class III rapids, including the continuous “Rock Gardens” on the upper section of the South Nahanni River, where a few of the rapids were purported to be Class IV, although I was sceptical of that ranking. Similarly, we ran many rapids on the Coppermine River that were easily Class III. We’ve run Class III, fully loaded, on other rivers as well. I’m not saying that this boat could be categorized as “made for whitewater,” but we developed our skills in it, and came to know, and depend on its potential in whitewater.

Below are a couple of images of us paddling the Adams Canyon, on a day trip, in our MR Explorer.

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Here we are on the upper Seymour River in North Vancouver, in our Mad River Exlporer.
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The Mad River Royalex Explorer was my first canoe bought 40 years ago, which I still have. I, too, agree it's a very good jack of all trades canoe. I've paddled it on lakes solo and with a wife and two kids, tandem and solo in class 3 whitewater, and with an outboard motor in San Francisco Bay.

Compared to the Pal, it's heavier, worse as a solo lake canoe, better as a whitewater canoe, and better as a gear hauler. Depends on your anticipated usage.

However, to jump the rails, if I were now only a lake and slow/easy river paddler, and if I only could buy one tandem canoe, it would not be a Royalex or any plastic canoe. They are too heavy and too bottom flexy. I would save or spring for a good, lightweight (not necessariily ultra-lightweight) composite canoe. They can last a lifetime with good care, and will become more and more appreciated as one improves in paddling skill while aging in body and strength.

I'd look for a used composite tandem in the 16"-17.5" length range (the shorter, the better for soloing) and in the 45-55 lb. weight range, which can be found with patience and some driving in the $1800 to $2500 price range. In my opinion, such a composite canoe would be a better long term financial and performance investment for flat/quiet water and portaging than any plastic canoe. Dave Curtis has a used Eagle on his Hemlock site right now.

As for the Explorer on Craigslist, take a good look at the bottom and the wood. The decks and gunwales seem quite scuffed, which isn't necessarily bad in itself but could be indicative of rough treatment.
 
However, to jump the rails, if I were now only a lake and slow/easy river paddler, and if I only could buy one tandem canoe, it would not be a Royalex or any plastic canoe. They are too heavy and too bottom flexy. I would save or spring for a good, lightweight (not necessariily ultra-lightweight) composite canoe. They can last a lifetime with good care, and will become more and more appreciated as one improves in paddling skill while aging in body and strength.

I'd look for a used composite tandem in the 16"-17.5" length range (the shorter, the better for soloing) and in the 45-55 lb. weight range, which can be found with patience and some driving in the $1800 to $2500 price range. In my opinion, such a composite canoe would be a better long term financial and performance investment for flat/quiet water and portaging than any plastic canoe. Dave Curtis has a used Eagle on his Hemlock site right now.

I agree with Glenn. I would do the same, particularly now that I’m 73. We had an ice storm over the weekend, and the tops of many, many, many trees had fallen across our nearly one-mile lane. Took four hours of chainsaw work to clear a path to the grid road. It plumb wore me out! A long portage with a heavy boat is perhaps beyond my enjoyment stage.
 
All I had to read was that PaddlingPitt AKA Michael and Kathleen used this boat for many years. I picked it up this morning and have it in my barn. The wood could use a sanding and recoat, and the wicker seems a bit fragile. I can handle the wood part of it, how should I address the wicker? Replace with webbing or find someone who can re-cane it for me? (I have a caned rocking chair that needs repair too)
 
Kathleen and I began paddling in the Vancouver area, where the very rocky rivers were choked with glacial debris. Virtually all serious river paddlers paddled some brand of Royalex. Because of its durability and field repairability, most wilderness paddlers that we knew also paddled Royalex. Lake paddlers and gentle class I paddlers generally paddled fibreglass or Kevlar models made by Clipper Canoes, often the “Tripper” model.

Until I became a member of this ste, I was essentially ignorant of the wide variety of hull designs and materials that people in the east are commonly knowledgeable about. If I were to begin canoeing today, at my age of 73, and intended to primarily paddle lakes with portages, I would not buy Royalex. Even so, I loved our two Royalex MR Explorers. The first one wore out. We did replace the cane seat with webbing, which we applied directly over the caning. It was easy to do.

Our second MR Explorer suffered an unfortunate accident caused by me. When we moved to Saskatchewan from Vancouver, I knew that I was supposed to unscrew the wooden gunwales from the hull over winter. Wood and the hull expand and contract at different rates during freeze/thaw cycles. In about our seventh winter here, I neglected to unscrew the gunwales. In the spring, our beloved canoe had 37 cracks all the way through the hull. McCrea has heard of cracks developing in Royalex hulls even when the gunwales have been unscrewed. We replaced our MR with a Royalex Wenonah Prospector, with vinyl gunwales, as the store here did not carry Mad River. We have never had a problem with cracks in the hull again with our vinyl gunwales. Just something to keep in mind, Otto Syracuse.

I hope you enjoy your boat. Other than its weight, and its speed, I don’t see why you wouldn’t. I have often said, “Give me a canoe, and I will paddle it!” I will probably also be happy. After all, I am canoeing. Why wouldn’t I be happy? I have heard it said that “The only thing worse than a bad canoe is no canoe at all.
 
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