Just curious from your experience, would you have bought it for $800 then worked on it?
I saw a seller the other day with a Chestnut for $750 I think up in NH and he was also selling a trailer and motor with it for a total of $1000.
It would be nice if the sellers were really honest with you knowing how long a drive it was.
It's possible, I didn't want to get in over my head and I explained to the seller this was my first W/C boat. While I don't have any experience working on W/C canoes, I have a fair amount of woodworking experience (I used to make and repair guitars), a modest shop, and steaming capabilities. I understand the concepts, just no practical experience. I accept working on a W/C canoe as part of ownership. Robin had found a restored Pal for me, but I wanted to do some of the work myself. The Chum I just picked needs a little work, and I look forward to figuring some things out.
It is a nice looking canoe, until you start looking closely.......the owner had it listed at originally at $2100. I sent him this clip from WCHA as a guideline:
Basket case canoe: $Free-
$200.
Restorable, not too bad: $200 -
$500
Needs help but Floats:
$500-$700
Useable as is more or less:
$700 - $1,000
Needs nothing, daily driver,
good shape or better: $1,000 - $2,000
Original/Well known maker/ and
very nice/no flaws: $2,000 - $3,500
Special/rare: $3,500 and
up.
That's how we got to $1600.....from my lack of experience and this "guide" it seemed high, but acceptable. This canoe was in the neighborhood where I grew up, so I scheduled a fishing trip in the Adirondacks to go with my canoe hunting expedition. In the end, it all worked out. Who knows, after working on the Chum, I might be up to tackling the Pal next year......