Canoe
Ponderings by Red Rock Wilderness StoreCanoe
Ponderings by Red Rock Wilderness Store
Test Paddling a Quetico 17, Buying Sight Unseen, Shipping Canoes
Q. I have very much enjoyed
reading all you have on you website - has been the first step toward driving away the winter blaas.
I am currently exploring the purchase of a new canoe. As the years wear on my ol' reliable and
battle scarred Osagian aluminum, although very functional, is getting to be more than I want to
carry. I was turned on to the BWCA by a friend and his father-in-law about 15 years ago and my
first trip was with a 90# Army surplus battlewagon canoe (borrowed). I have gone at least once
every year since with the exception of the year my son was born.
(Sorry didn't mean to ramble)
I am interested in one of the "blem" 17' Queticos you currently have on your site. I do have a
couple of questions maybe you could help me with
- How is delivery/pick up handled
- I live in central Iowa
- Is there any way to "test drive" the canoe before purchase
- I have never had the opportunity to be in a Kevlar canoe and would sure like the chance to see
what one is all about before I cough up that kind of jingle for one.
We are planning on a Memorial weekend trip this year at the Little Indian Sioux entry point. If I
decide to purchase this canoe, I would be leery of picking it up on my way there as I would need
time for licensing, etc. and to gain some experience with it.
Any info you could give me would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Aaron
A. Glad you liked out site! As far as shipping a Q-17 to
you. We build a special crate for it, box it in and ship it to a truck transfer station near you.
Cost is $200 to $275 I'm guessing. Since you haven't yet paddled one and are interested in the
blems (very good deal - Souris River's blems are never significant), here's what we usually do. We
sell you the canoe, now. You come up and take it on a canoe trip and if you love it, you take it
home. If, immediately following your canoe trip you decide you didn't like it , you return it to
us and we will refund you the amount you paid less a normal rental charge based on how many calendar
days you were out. If you were out 4-6 days, the rental would cost you $30 per day plus tax, for
example. This way, you still had your trip, and are out the rental charge.
This is reversed from our regular Try/Buy deal where you rent the canoe and pay the balance after
the trip because we are dealing with a limited edition, discounted blem, not a readily available
first quality canoe. It's unlikely that we'll have any blems left before the beginning of May.
They usually sell like Snicker Bars at a 3 for 1 sale.
I'm very confident that if you were comfortable in an aluminum canoe that you'll find the Quetico
17 to be about the same stability-wise only 30% easier paddling with a much greater payload. Like
driving a new, different car, it'll take a little getting used to but stabilty is rarely and issue.
Remembering to tie it to a tree at night or it might end up in a tree the next morning can be
important. Like with all canoes, ramming shore and dragging it up on the rocks while loaded is not
good for the canoe, otherwise, this particular hull is a dream to use and unlike aluminum, it
doesn't dent. Unlike all other-brand kevlar canoes it doesn't crack up easily - tends to bounce
and scratch 98% of the time. The scratches don't mean anything. Our Souris River kevlar canoes
held up better than our aluminum canoes in rentals and three seasons ago, we discontinued renting
aluminum altogether.
If you decide buy the canoe, we can issue you a temporary 10 day canoe license for no cost, plus I
can help you with tying it down to your vehicle since we have all the right gear available. A lot
of folks bring up inadequate and just plain useless tiedown gear that they buy in advance of coming
up here to pick up their canoes. I think they figure that we wouldn't have the right stuff at a
canoe shop which makes less than no sense to me.
Another option would be for you to test paddle a Q-17 right here before you go out on your trip.
It's unlikely that I would have blems available, however. If you are interested, in setting
something up, give us a call at 1-800-280-1078. Thanks!
Joe
More canoeing information in one spot than anywhere else on the web!
