Boats: Aluminum Canoe

Aluminum Canoe

Below a review by a product user:

Where to start? In 1967/early 68 we first bought a 13 foot Grumman, complete with home-made sidesaddle motor mount & a small gas outboard, maybe 3/4 or 1 hp, that we instantly called The Egg-Beater. Had lots of fun with it, made a great addition to Dad's 14 foot Duracraft Semi-V with 10 hp Johnson. The Eggbeater outboard was troublesome & finally gave up the ghost, but that was several years later. I used to have to stop halfway around the lake & clean out the float bowl on it. But for every outing using the motor, it was probably used 4 or 5 times with paddles

It was probably in late 1969 or spring of 1970 that Dad called me- a rare thing indeed back then. He said a guy had a 15 foot Grumman canoe & wanted $80 for it- should he put it in the company bulletin board sheet or did I want it today? We went in the old blue & white '58 Ford pickup and I bought it that evening.

Our 13 & 15 foot canoes were as different as night & day. The 13 footer had an almost perfectly round bottom & would easily dump a careless paddler- it was *great* for perfecting those upper body/lower body differences I first learned of at Scout Camp a few years before! The 15 footer had- & still has- an almost flat bottom & by the time I got it I was unswampable in it, as friends in fishing or ski boats would make a round or 3 around it, trying their best to turn us over.

The 13 footer went some years ago, but my Grumman 15 still remains. I don't know exactly when it was made- the tag was chiseled off the deck when I bought it. I believe that was because Texas boating laws then required anything over 14 feet to be registered- but that's just a guess.

It has its scratches & scars, but the hull has never been holed & there are still no leaks at all. She's straight & ready to go- heck, my brother & his kids took it out just last weekend. Many times over the years, if someone does yard work, roofing, etc, they'll ask the same question, & my answer is always the same-"No, not for sale."