I found a pair of the old-style Zebco dock rods at our local flea market a few weeks ago and the lady threw in a pair of 33 Classic reels, so that search is over.
This weekend I went out and bought a new canoe. I had no luck locating a decent used one. Every time I found a possibility, it was sold before I could get to it. The local liveries don't sell their used canoes until they are thoroughly trashed.
I found a 2010 Pelican (formerly Coleman Marine) Potomac 14'6" canoe with molded seats. Like my old Coleman from the 1980's, it is Ram-X crosslink polyethelyne and... the same "Colorado Red" color. In lieu of an aluminum keelson and vertical stiffener supports under the seats and thwarts, the hull is thicker and the molded seats themselves provide the hull with needed stiffness. I think I am going to miss the full length keel of the old coleman as this boat has no keel. Maybe not though. We'll just have to see how well it tracks without one.
Here is a picture I nabbed from an online site "Tropical Watersports". Their price on this boat is $1,395. Dick's sells theirs for $329. It was a difficult decision, but I went with Dick's.
Shorter than my old 17' Coleman by 2'6", it has the same 36" beam amidships (38" stated on the shipping sticker), so it should be stable enough to stand in while casting, and very hard to swamp even with a novice bowperson. Capacity is rated at 800 pounds (I am skeptical of this).Fitted with three seats, the sticker declares "Maximum Capacity In Whole Persons....2". Hay, waitaminute!
As you can see, there are three seats, the middle being also a "cooler". Each seat has both drink holders and rod holders. While my old COleman had relatively narrow flat molded "bench seats", these are quite wide and beg for a pad like the GCI Sitbacker ($30 +/-)...
The bow and stern have painter attachment holes in the endcaps, and the (tiny) deckplates each have a molded hand hold for carry.
Unlike my old Coleman, the gunnels on this boat have vinyl covers. This should be an improvement over the bare aluminum of the old model. I won't miss having my hands coated with gray aluminum oxide, or hearing every bump of the paddle on the gunnels.
My old canoe came as a "kit" and took about an hour to assemble, drilling holes and screwing together all of the aluminum frame, including gunnels.
This one also was a kit of sorts, but took less than 30 minutes with the holes for the deckplates and seats already drilled, the end caps and gunnels already riveted on.
Will this canoe be as durable as my old Coleman? I really don't know yet. But it's cost here in mid-2010 is nearly the same as I paid for the Coleman back in 1982, and about half the cost of a comparable Old Town. It will do me until something better comes along. Hopefully at least one of my PFDs is still around and didn't get "lost" with my canoe, paddles, tents and sleeping bags.
EDITED TO ADD: I have had buyer's remorse today. I don't care for the molded seats and how they are attached to the hull. Reviews speak of them breaking, and I can't sit backwards in them for solo paddling.
My first thought was to upgrade the seats to ash and wicker, add ash thwarts and grab handles. But then I would have a bit more than an extra hundred in it, closer to $150 plus my labor. I am considering taking it back to Dick's and putting the money toward a better canoe, possibly a used Old Town Guide 16 I just found for about the same total price of the upgraded 14'6" Pelican.
You ever do this? Buy something cheap because you ran out of patience, then regret the purchase before you even use it?
