We rented two SR 18.5 from a well known outfitter in Ely this past week. One of the canoes had just about every rib cracked in the middle and the other had two cracked ribs. Shame on us for not looking in the inside of the canoe until we got to the entry about an hour away...I was fairly concerned about the success and safety of our 5 day trip. Never the less, we continued without incident. Got back and was told by the outfitter that this was normal wear and not a safety concern. Is that true?

The purpose of the ribs is to keep the hull from flexing an inordinate amount. Cracks in them can be ignored. It's not a safety issue.

I'm curious about the location, length, and orientation of said cracks. I'd be inclined to agree that it's likely not a safety issue, but I'm a bit skeptical about labeling it as "normal" until I know more.

quote tonyyarusso: "I'm curious about the location, length, and orientation of said cracks. I'd be inclined to agree that it's likely not a safety issue, but I'm a bit skeptical about labeling it as "normal" until I know more."

The location of each crack was just about center of the rib oriented from bow to stern. The cracks seemed to go all the way through the rib but not the bottom of the canoe. The hull would significantly bow upward from the bottom of the canoe when placed in water and the cracks themselves would expand and contract with paddle strokes.

That's not normal. From what you describe the canoe had lost some structural integrity and performance suffered. The foam in the middle had cracked but the outside skin intact. I don't think you were in danger, but if it were me, I would avoid using that outfitter again or at least having a conversation with the person in charge. You might have been dealing with a harried employee.

We had a similar issue last year with a rented SR Q17. In our case it was just one rib but it had cracked all the way through. Duck tape slowed down the leaking enough to get us back. The boat seemed very brittle to me and I thought that UV damage was to blame. Several other spots looked like they were beginning to delaminate. Like Diego I should have checked out the boat more before we set off.

quote yellowcanoe: "That's not normal. From what you describe the canoe had lost some structural integrity and performance suffered. The foam in the middle had cracked but the outside skin intact. I don't think you were in danger, but if it were me, I would avoid using that outfitter again or at least having a conversation with the person in charge. You might have been dealing with a harried employee."

Thats what I figured. To make matters worse the kevlar around the bottom of the stern deck was loose and would capture bilge water, making the canoe extremely unbalanced when portaging. Had to tie a filled water bottle to the front to balance the canoe while carrying it!

I was one of two customers there while being checked in, and the only one there while checking out...so I cant give them an excuse on that one. Lesson learned though, check not only the outside for damage, but the inside as well before heading out to entry point.

The outfitter should never have rented that canoe to you. What the hell were they thinking? I'm glad they didn't blame you for the damage. SR canoes are tough boats, perhaps the toughest Kevlars (I own a Quetico 17), but some ignorant/unskilled group must have beat the hell out of it, because it takes a LOT of abuse to do that much damage.

quote arctic: "The outfitter should never have rented that canoe to you. What the hell were they thinking? I'm glad they didn't blame you for the damage. SR canoes are tough boats, perhaps the toughest Kevlars (I own a Quetico 17), but some ignorant/unskilled group must have beat the hell out of it, because it takes a LOT of abuse to do that much damage."

We were sure to take pictures of the cracks before we started out just in case. I think they saw a group of six apparent newbs...we had young people. ..and decided to give us the beater uppers. They appeared to be 2010 models if the last two digits of the serial number indicate that. Anyway, wont be using them again, that's for sure.

I cannot imagine a trip that would crack every rib on a SR Q boat. Must have been seriously abused. Wow. And an outfitter that wouldn't repair it upon return? Ouch.

I bought my SR17 used with three years of outfitter use and have made a number of trips with it and no cracked ribs.

I would guess that the owner of the outfitter wasn't aware that his crew rented a damaged canoe to you. Nobody in their right mind would purposely rent a canoe with such extensive damage. Sorry to hear about your crappy canoe rental.

I can only wonder what the previous group did to damage the canoe to that degree.

Tom

Am glad you still had a safe trip.

My son and I rented a Royalex from an Ely outfitter in 2007. While we were taking care of paperwork an employee put it on my car and tied it down for me. We really didn't get a good look at it until we took it off at Snowbank Lake. I was disappointed to see a kink in the gunwale where the rear seat hung. The canoe was fine and we handled some rough, windy weather in it but it still bugged me we paid for a canoe that was less than perfect shape. The thought kept running through my head that we might get blamed for that "imperfection", but we weren't. Lucky you weren't either.

If you look closely you can see it in the pic. Probably wasn't that big a deal but it did bother me.

quote tumblehome: "I would guess that the owner of the outfitter wasn't aware that his crew rented a damaged canoe to you. Nobody in their right mind would purposely rent a canoe with such extensive damage. Sorry to hear about your crappy canoe rental.


I can only wonder what the previous group did to damage that canoe to that degree.


Tom"

I probably should have asked to talk to the owner, but the employee was so reassuring that this was typical of the boats and told me it happens to them all the time. Id like to see what the rest of the boats looked like, but I wont be back.

Actually, i didnt really like staying in Ely the night before compared to some of the other remote outfitters Ive used. To many sights and sounds of the city kind of took away from the whole experience for me....although the restaurants were great!

If you run a canoe over a beaver dam you can crack ribs on many types of canoe. It is common to find rental souris rivers canoes with broken rips and when you paddle them they will oil can.

quote MagicPaddler: "If you run a canoe over a beaver dam you can crack ribs on many types of canoe. It is common to find rental souris rivers canoes with broken rips and when you paddle them they will oil can. "

Maybe so. Though I have run many a beaver dam with no rib damage in my SR Wilderness 18 canoe.

That said there is no reason to settle for such a craft. If you did the damage, of course that is another matter.

There really is no reason to pay for others mishaps and for an outfitter to cavalierly think that the customer should accept whatever bone is offered is egregious.

It is tough to keep rental canoes in pristine condition. The abuse that these canoes take is unthinkable to most of the peoople on this website. I have seen full loaded kevlar canoes dragged over rocks, pulled over beaverdams (fully loaded ans with people still in them). It is amazing to me that just about every rental canoe, espeically kevlar, do not have major structural damage.

It is tough to keep rental canoes in pristine condition. The abuse that these canoes take is unthinkable to most of the peoople on this website. I have seen full loaded kevlar canoes dragged over rocks, pulled over beaverdams (fully loaded ans with people still in them). It is amazing to me that just about every rental canoe, espeically kevlar, do not have major structural damage.