I sold an OT Tripper yesterday and I'm not sorry the boat is gone but I have a bad feeling that the new owner may be "in over his head" for what he wants to do with it. He told me that in his previous boat, some kind of pontoon boat with a 9HP motor, he tried crossing the Knik River to get to "Fort Harrington" and couldn't make it because the current pushed him downstream. I never hear of Fort Harrington so I didn't know exactly where he was going but the Knik is pretty much flat water so I didn't think much of it.
I knew he had no experience when he asked if it came with oars, he also said this boat will be perfect because it doesn't have a keel so it won't be pushed downstream by the current . He was happy with the 17 foot length and how big of a boat it is. This guy was big, maybe 6'6" or more and he was also heavy, I told him that a seventeen foot canoe is not a big boat and that an 11' rowboat might be more stable. I told him that a canoe is greatly affected by wind and currents and that he should get an instructional book and watch some videos to get educated. I told him to sit in the bow seat and face the stern if he is solo and stressed again the importance of getting educated to be safe.
Before he left he said how impressed he was that the according to the literature the boat can haul 1500 lbs and how he was going to load it up with gear to get to "Fort Harrison" if that is what it is called. I said you don't mean Point MacKensie do you? Yeah that's it he said. It was then I realized he wasn't crossing the Knik River with the boat but Knik Arm, which is a long open saltwater crossing with very strong tides and usually windy. Now I wouldn't say that it is not possible in a canoe but if I were to do it I would wear a dry suit just in case. I told him I didn't think it was a good idea to take the boat there and that he would need a lot more experience to do something like that.
I was as honest as I could be about the boat and it's limitations and what size motor it could handle and any other precaution I could think of, but as he drove down the driveway I just hoped that I wouldn't be reading about him in the paper. Has anybody else ever had that feeling when selling a boat and was there anything more I should have done. If he calls back and says the boat is too unstable for him I will give him his money back, but I didn't offer that. He got it at a good enough price that he should have no problem selling it himself.
I knew he had no experience when he asked if it came with oars, he also said this boat will be perfect because it doesn't have a keel so it won't be pushed downstream by the current . He was happy with the 17 foot length and how big of a boat it is. This guy was big, maybe 6'6" or more and he was also heavy, I told him that a seventeen foot canoe is not a big boat and that an 11' rowboat might be more stable. I told him that a canoe is greatly affected by wind and currents and that he should get an instructional book and watch some videos to get educated. I told him to sit in the bow seat and face the stern if he is solo and stressed again the importance of getting educated to be safe.
Before he left he said how impressed he was that the according to the literature the boat can haul 1500 lbs and how he was going to load it up with gear to get to "Fort Harrison" if that is what it is called. I said you don't mean Point MacKensie do you? Yeah that's it he said. It was then I realized he wasn't crossing the Knik River with the boat but Knik Arm, which is a long open saltwater crossing with very strong tides and usually windy. Now I wouldn't say that it is not possible in a canoe but if I were to do it I would wear a dry suit just in case. I told him I didn't think it was a good idea to take the boat there and that he would need a lot more experience to do something like that.
I was as honest as I could be about the boat and it's limitations and what size motor it could handle and any other precaution I could think of, but as he drove down the driveway I just hoped that I wouldn't be reading about him in the paper. Has anybody else ever had that feeling when selling a boat and was there anything more I should have done. If he calls back and says the boat is too unstable for him I will give him his money back, but I didn't offer that. He got it at a good enough price that he should have no problem selling it himself.