So yesterday I went up to his place and picked up the canoe and three paddles. I wasn't quite sure what I'd find: he said it was "a good canoe", but didn't recall any particulars about it. I figured it would be worth a drive to find out.
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| From Sundance |
Turns out the canoe is a Mad River Sundance. According to the old Mad River catalogue, it's 17' 6" long and 34.5" wide at the beam. That's a whole lotta canoe.
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| From Sundance |
When I saw the canoe, I told my friend that it's too nice a canoe to give away: he should sell it. He said, "I can't sell it, because I'm giving it away". That's very generous.
The canoe's in great shape, but a little dusty.
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| From Sundance |
I cleaned it up a little this afternoon to get rid of the dust and touch up the dings in the wood. A little polish and it's in fine shape.
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| From Sundance |
I did rub some Danish oil into the gunwhales: that might be a stupid thing to do, but they felt a little dry. I think it'll be fine. It definitely added some shine to the wood, which is nice cosmetically. Danish oil should handle the water just fine.
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| From Sundance |
The hull only needed some soap and water, then we put a shine on it with a vaguely Armor-All(R) -like substance.
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| From Sundance |
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| From Sundance |
This is a little longer, but narrower than my current canoe, a We-no-nah Prospector. And the Sundance has a keel, while the Prospector is flat-bottomed.
Of course the Prospector is a gorgeous canoe
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| From Mohun Lake |
but I've found it's pretty squirrely. It's flat-bottomed and doesn't track very well, and the high stems catch the wind like sails: it's a challenging canoe for the solo paddler or the novice. On the other hand, it turns on a dime and can handle a lot of abuse. I love my Prospector.
But I'm really excited about the new canoe. It's probably about 20 years old, but it's been well looked-after. And there's something really classy to those lines.
I'm planning on trying it out later this week, so I'll try and post an update then.
I'm really grateful for my friend' generosity. He insists he wasn't using it, but the fact is that he could've sold it: giving it away really was kind. It's a nice canoe, and it's in good shape, he didn't have to give it to me.
3 comments:
Wow, I really envy you. I have been trying to find a canoe for the past two years straight...it doesn't sound difficult until you hear my budget, which is "free or will pay up to $100 if it comes with paddles and racks". So, basically, it is a chimera.
I have this same boat. It’s now third-hand to my dad and then passed to me. It’s seen plenty of abuse through the years. It’s always been stored outdoors. We replaced the seats and thwarts but the gunwales are still original (sanded a bit over the years) but I treat them with linseed oil once a year. It’s a couple of years older than me and I’m 37. Still going strong. My wife and I recently took it 40 miles over three days on the Penobscot River in Maine.
Wow. So glad to find this forum. I have a Sundance. I think my boat is 18' 6". I bought it in 1991 or 1992 while living in CT. I took it to MN for canoe trips in the BWCA and Canada.
I recently took it out of a 13-year storage space. It was dusty as heck, but a little clean up and some Watco Danish oil on the Guns brought it back to life. I look forward to paddling it this season! It is an excellent tripping boat. The shallow v hull is very fast. Initial stability scares some paddlers, but the secondary stability is rock-solid. I cannot recall all the design details, but I think it is a Symmetric hull. I have paddled it solo, turning it around and sitting in the bow seat. It does great. I think Mad River changed to a new Asymmetric design in later models - for example the Expedition 17-6 and 18-6. All the best to paddlers everywhere. Paddle on.
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