What's happening to the price of wood canoes?

[Robin]

I like to watch CL for canoes in the Hartford Ct area and recently have noticed a big drop in prices of wood canvas canoes. To have a canoe restored by a pro costs anywhere from 2-3 thousand and up. Here's some recent posts
[h=2]Old Town wood/canvas canoe - $1195 [/h]

[FONT=&quot]Old Town wood/canvas canoe. Restored to a high standard at great expense but still has a beautiful patina from age. Comes with the floorboards and paddles. Only in water a couple of times since restoration. Serial #98993, delivered to G. Fox & Co, Hartford, Ct. in April 1929.[/FONT]
[h=2]Antique B.N. Morris Canvas Canoe - $1500[/h]

[FONT=&quot]Antique 17' B.N. Morris Canoe, S/N 14842, circa 1914, in very good condition. It has mahogany gunwales and seats, which have been professionally re-caned.[/FONT]
[h=2]*Old Town Canoe -Wooden - $975[/h]

[FONT=&quot]Old Town Canoe - Drop in Water and Go. $975[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Original Wooden Old Town Canoe[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]* I called on this and they said it was not for sale right now? Not even sure it's an Old Town, the horses look like Schuyler Thomsons shop horses, could be a scam[/FONT]

[h=2]16' Old Town Wooden Guide Canoe - $1995[/h]

[FONT=&quot]Beautiful Wooden Old Town Canoe, Built 2001. Excellent original condition,The additional options are, Two Tone Paint, Outside Stems, Rub Rails, Full Length Stem Band and Painter Rings. Old Town Canoe Company no longer builds their own wooden canoes. The replacement price for this canoe is close to $10,000. Call for more information.


There was a 15' Old Town Trapper restored for $600, I called on that but choose to pass. He was legit, $600 for a Trapper, good buy.

Crazy cheap prices.[/FONT]

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

Robin, That is very discouraging. At the prices of canvas, filler, paint, etc. you would have to pay the buyer for the privilege to work on the canoe.

 

[Odyssey]

I remember a next door neighbour's dad dropping by with a late model pickup truck. Oh baby it was swoon worthy. After I picked myself up from the lawn I recovered my senses enough to ask "Is it all original? Can I take it for a spin?" He replied that yes it was. BUT.... I wondered how there could be any concerns with beauty like that. He said " No power = standard brakes, standard clutch means a helluva work out for an old guy like me". I reconsidered my love affair with his 52 Chevy. Maybe it was just a love better off unrequited.
I wonder if the real commitment of an historic piece of canoe history scares people off enough to prefer a more modern craft. I'm not casting aspersions. To each their own. I just wonder if some people prefer power brakes and power steering, satellite radio and full suspension...no more old school real cool ride. I don't know. But whenever I see this stuff I have to pick myself up from the lawn and recover my senses to ask "Is it all original? Can I take it for a spin?"
Who knows what prices mean nowadays? Are they really indicative of common sense and salability? Just look at late model cars. My good deal may mean your no deal. All I know is , just like cars, no-body is making originals anymore. Maybe someone someday will hoard and speculate. But the saddest thing to me is to see a late model car or canoe trailered to a show. And stay there. And the rubber never touches the road. And the hull never touches the water.
But I'm not a collector, nor an educated fan. Just a guy on the sidelines swooning on the lawn whenever a collectible parks itself in my sightline.
What I like about the WC community is that the canoes get restored and reused. Cool. I appreciate the museum pieces of course, but it's so wonderful to see wood canoes continue to be treasured and paddled; not trailered and parked, swoon-worthy or otherwise.

 

[lowangle al]

Don't blame me, I'm doing my part to keep demand up. Three boats in three years. I would think the supply is growing with more boats being restored than are falling out of service in a given year.

 

[Mihun09]

Out our way the people are more inclined to spend $800 on a plastic canoe from Crappy Tire and when it breaks they toss it in the landfill and buy another one. They don't require maintenance like a w/c does and they either don't want to do the work, cannot or won't pay the equivalent cost of a plastic canoe for new canvas. A glut of unwanted canoes drives the price down. Doesn't stop me from doing it but there really isn't a market here for two builders.

 

[Boreal Birch]

Seems like only a couple of years ago I bought a brand new, made for me, Cedar and Canvas canoe from Joe Seliga for $1500. No wait, that was 20+ years ago, I had been on the waiting list for five years. I had waited long enough to have squirreled away the money, so that I could afford it, as it seemed very expensive at the time. Shortly after Joe died his canoes were selling for 5-7 thousand dollars if you could ever find one. Mine will probably get sold for a pittance after I'm gone, because no one in my family is into old style wood, wool, bamboo or canvas equipment. So you younger guys should be watching the CL Fairbanks and Alaska List in the next five to 10 years.

 

[JoeO]

Its not just wooden canoes it is all canoes and kayaks Big box stores sell crappy canoes and Kayaks for 200 to 300 dollars sometimes less people then want to pay the same price for your canoe. Plastic canoe is now 2000 dollars craigslist you will be lucky to get 300 dollars. Then there are people that do not know the price of a good canoe and sell them for 300 dollars I post a post on craigslist for 500 dollars I will get an email I will give you 200 cash. Thats why my fleet at the moment is 10 boat not worth selling them. I will keep them and loan them out. I had 14 at one point. to sell them I have to wait a long time and I still do not get my price

 

[boatstall]

And some of us can't seem to find any locally available, in any condition, at any price.
Looks more and more like a major round trip 40+ hour road trip to even look at a decent WC.
May have to see if one could be shipped down to Louisiana, but am afraid it would arrive as a crate of splinters.

Tons of aluminum, plastic, and fiberglass locally available, and a few "Jenson 18' types, racing kevlars", but most wooden canoes, especially strippers, are hanging in restaurants.

Thinking of building a stripper, but would much rather have a WC. I've hand built several wooden power boats up to 32' using cypress, lots of fiberglass boats, and own a couple of small wooden sailboats, (Thistle, and International Jet 14), so the maintenance does not scare me.

I've personally never paddled a WC canoe, but I know that I want one.

 

[BWCA66]

As a builder of canoes that look like wood canvas but have composite hulls what I hear from folks is that they love the traditional look but not the work to keep them up or fix them and they want something lighter.

 

[martin2007]

The price of used wooden canoes is dropping. So is the price of used folding kayaks. I'm into both, but it's not a good time to "get out of the market" right now. What is needed is a big budget action movie to showcase our boats. A prison breakout movie à la Steve McQueen where he paddles cedar-and-canvas instead of popping wheelies on a motorcycle. "Fast and Furious" could be answered by "Leisurely-Paced and Lighthearted". Yes, finding that alliteration was challenging, and I admit this: in my search for words and a plausible explanation of unfathomable human behaviour I'm frequently guilty of lily-dipping. But 'twas a noble failure! As Sartre, brokenhearted, but plucky to the end, used to say: "Better to have loved and lost than to have never paddled at all". Or was that Camus? Somebody like that. Even harder than getting a good alliteration, though, has been remaining patient while trying to sell my Richardson. Frankly, it's bewildering. I'm considering putting her to work again.

 

[Iskweo]

Those are some nice boats for cheap Robin. Take a look at the Toronto Kijiji some time, its enough to make you cry. I have not seen any WC for sale out here yet this year. Maybe I should toss one in the ring. I am not ready to let any go just yet though.

Martin, your Richardson is a very nice canoe and any serious afficionado would drool over it. Pam Wedd has one too, the first canoe her father bought her if I remember the story correctly.
I missed a 15 foot Morris a few years ago. I would have had to drive 2500 miles each way to get it...It sold while my plan was still under review...lol. Thank God.
I do worry about what will become of the majority of these heirlooms once we pass on. No one seems to want them and even worse, the first thing they do is fibreglass them. Usually clear so you can see the ugly planking. Gahhhhhhh.
On the other hand, Doug Ingram is selling Y stern racers as fast as he can build them. Go figure.

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

As Sartre, brokenhearted, but plucky to the end, used to say: "Better to have loved and lost than to have never paddled at all". Or was that Camus? Somebody like that.

Tennyson.

 

[Mihun09]

I think every boat we have sold has been severely under priced, but that is the way it is here. I won't sell to someone who wants to hang it in their den, because at some point down the road they will tire of it and send it to the landfill.

Unless there is a total blowout of economies and people adjust to having one canoe last 100 years instead of disposable plastic ones, then the markets for these will be limited and it could take years to find the right buyer.

 

[frozentripper]

They don't require maintenance like a w/c does and they either don't want to do the work...

This has to be part of the reason... the work needed for maintenance. A neighbor recently had a plastic lawn installed on his property because it's less work. Gardening, planting and weeding is too much work. It's just pathetic watching some of these property owners trying to do basic maintenance... no clue how to use a shovel. They do know how to spend money on all kinds of plastic stuff, though.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I think its a myth that W/C canoes require lots of maintenance.. I see them all the time in barns or hung up in houses.. "Its too pretty to paddle; I am afraid to get it wet" Yet I have three traditional canoes covered in dacron that are over twenty years old. Because they were constructed well and finished well with multiple but not clunky coats of varnish, maintenance is near zero.. Maybe touch up a gunwale once every three years.

Louisiana however is a tough place for a wood canvas canoe. I have seen them down there ( they do exist) and one problem is the brass tacks corrode. Once I saw an entire Old Town held together by its canvas. The relentless humidity had gotten to the tacks

Another cadre of three was stored under a house in a crawl space with a clay floor ( the boats were an inch from the floor and not in direct contact) and had no ventilation.. Some sort of galvanic reaction took place and those brass tacks every one of the thousands of them left a chalky flower on the outside of the canvas.. Might have reacted with the filler.

And others in LA have ( Covington) have done well when stored up in the breeze with ventilation.

What is lawn maintenance? Don't have one. Some of my yard looks like an Algo campsite. Rocks roots and pines.

 

[frozentripper]

Lawn maintenance and related work issues... another neighbor uses natural processes to reduce the work load... "moo yer lawn".

 

[Odyssey]

So it's as simple as supply vs demand, with prices held low due to lack of appreciation for history?
And yet a brand new wood canoe sells for many times that of a restored canoe?
Unappreciation on the one hand and depreciation on the other. I understand now why some might collect wood canoes (or other kinds too), whether they paddle them or not.

 

[Iskweo]

YC is correct that a well constructed WC canoe requires little maintenance. It is just that a plastic canoe requires NONE. If it needs any you throw it away and get another one. It is the perception of needing yearly maintenance that is the issue. The royalex canoe did not help matters. WC canoes are seen as fragile things that wont stand up to heavy use. Really? The problem is that people now routinely just bash off of rocks instead of go around them because the Rx can take SOME of that. Technology replaces skill.

So whether it is perceived or actual, the attitude is that WC is old, and new is better. I like the kevlar and graphite and such....very nice light canoes for us old ladies. But they dont give you the same feel. WC are a lot easier on the eyes too. Some discerning paddlateers see this and will have a WC in the fleet. I mean hey, even karin and I have a kevlar for tripping. But we love old school trips with the wood boats. Its like the guys that collect old cars. Nice hobby and fun to drive once in a while.

To be honest, the price of a quality Wood canoe is pretty affordable. It is even giving the plastic ones a run for the money now that those prices are climbing. The rebuilds that Robin sells are a waaaaaay better deal than a Coleman or Pelican due to the initial quality of the boats. I guess that is part of it....the disposable society. Buy cheap, buy often.

Whatever the reason, the wood boats are falling further and further out of the public's eye. I applaud all of the builders and restorers out there that keep them alive.

Christy

 

[Rippy]

I'm coming up on sixty this year. While that's not old and I'm still somewhat active, I see the writing on the wall from here. Many things are going away as us boomers dwindle in number. I have built many things over the years with my own two hands, and have had the satisfaction in using something I made my self. I have a few projects left in me, but I am starting to be careful not to start too many things for fear of not finishing them. The last couple years I have began sorting and getting rid of things I realize I don't need. The next generation will push a button and 3D print what they want but I doubt they will have the same sense of achievement we have building and repairing our gear. When I was in my twenties I heated our house with a forced air wood furnace. It was a lot of work, but the feeling I got looking at the wood pile in the fall and knowing I wood be warm was priceless. When the pile was high enough my wife and I would celebrate by going to town and splurging on a pizza. At the time I thought we were doing OK, I paid all our bills and we were getting by. When I look back now it scares me to realize that we were borderline poor and if one of us had got laid up we would have been in serious trouble.
Times are ever changing and I now understand what is meant by the saying "you can't go back home". That home is in the past. Lately I have shifted from the mentality of wanting to "just one more time do this or get that", to feeling blessed by all the times I got to experience this or that. Anything more will be a bonus.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Craiglist in CT is a hot bed of canoes there is a Mad River Pearl in Waterbury for $1100.. The 26 lbs it cites? Hmmm I'm always suspect of Craigslist.. No doubt there are honest people there.. but look at this.. Isn't the ad a bid deceiving?
https://hartford.craigslist.org/atq/6157069276.html