When choosing a used canoe to purchase some of the more important considerations you will have to make are the uses you expect out of your canoe. When you have that in tow, you can then look at the following to make sure you get your money’s worth when seeking a canoe to purchase.
1. What Use Will Your Canoe Be For – The type of canoe you snag off the used market has to meet a certain need. Canoes vary greatly from one another. If you really want a canoe you should have considered where you will use it.
There are different canoes for different occasions. Canoeing with the family through gentle waters and white water canoeing are two vastly different uses needing vastly different types of canoes.
When you have decided upon the use, you can then browse for the canoe that meets your need. For example if you plant to go white water then you will need a canoe that can take the punishment of the violent rapids.
For this type of canoeing you will need short and sturdy canoes. They should be able to withstand hitting against rocks at an amazing speed while remaining maneuverable. If you plan to race you will need narrow canoes that are both light and long. Racing canoes have to be streamlined and fast that’s why you will need such.
Long canoes are faster and are great for straight line maneuvering. They also track through the water better. They however are harder to maneuver – which makes them the worst pick for white water rapids. They can also be hard to store and transport.
Camping canoes are wide and pretty long, not to mention pretty heavy. But as they always say, to each his own. So just make sure that your canoe fits your needs.
2. Pick a hull shape -Rounded and V-shaped hulls are great performers in the water and they always do better than flat hulled canoes. While flat-bottomed canoes initially feel more stable, as the canoe tracks on, you will see that initial stability is relatively unimportant to overall stability and maneuverability.
Also when buying a canoe look closely if they have keels. Keels are fin-like structures that run the bottom of the canoe. They are built there to help with the steering of a craft. However, in the case of canoes, they actually hinder steering instead. So try to avoid keels if possible.
3. Watch the Tumblehome- . Tumblehomes are the curves at the sides of the canoe that give extra strength to the canoe, especially when you consider the rather insipid strength of usual canoe building materials. Tumblehomes make paddling easier since it gives you good position to paddle. However, too much tumblehome can cause the canoe to capsize.
If you plan to go to deep waters avoid too much tumblehome. It may make your canoe hard to stabilize.
Also, you will want to consider the depth of your canoe. While a good foot of space will do for most situations, those that brave wild waters will want a few inches added so that the canoe does not readily take in water.
4. Where to Search? – The internet is a great place to look for used canoes, and so are classified ads. Canoe enthusiasts may also have spare canoes they may want to part with. Just make sure you by now know what to look for in a canoe.
Good canoes can last a long, long time. This makes getting a good canoe early on very important. Happy hunting!
Word count: 589