Canoing is a fun and relaxing way to spend a summer afternoon. It’s an easy sport to learn, and you don’t need a whole lot of equipment, at least opposed to some other sports. Of course, the first thing you’ll need to do is to find cheap canoes for sale. When it comes to buying a canoe there are many places where you can turn, online or off new or used. Before you start your search make sure you take into consideration what you hope to use your canoe for and what your budget will be. It’s also a good idea to take a course to find out if you really enjoy canoing before you buy one.
Deciding what you will be using your canoe for will help you determine the size it should be as well as the best construction methods for your canoe. For example, a wooden canoe may be beautiful but it can also be expensive and high maintenance. On the other hand, a fiberglass or Kevlar canoe can be lightweight (much easier if you need to transport it from one place to another either on your car or carrying it over your head) and very strong but they tend to be quite expensive. With fiberglass you do have to be careful since not all fiberglass boats are created equal. There are shortcuts that some manufacturers take that lessen the strength and quality of their fiberglass boats, so be careful.
If you like to canoe on a big lake, one that takes a lot of time to get across, you may want to buy a square stern canoe. This will enable you to add a small outboard motor if you want. That will greatly increase your options in terms of how far out in a lake you can go without having to worry about running out of energy to get back (or getting caught out in some rough weather).
When checking out cheap canoes for sale make sure that you look for a canoe that doesn’t have any visible signs of damage. While they can be repaired it may cost more than it’s worth and you’ll want to know before you commit to buying it.
Make sure that you also invest in the proper safety gear. Life vests should be at the top of your safety gear list. Make sure you have one for every person that will be in the canoe. Life vests come in different sizes too so make sure that you get them in the proper size for the people onboard. Canoes, unlike most other types of boats, can tip over fairly easily so it’s important that everyone in the boat keeps their vest on, and tightened, whenever they are out on the water.
You can find many places that have cheap canoes for sale, just make sure you know exactly the type and size canoe you need before you start your search. If you don’t, you will only get confused and overwhelmed, who knew there were so many choices when buying a canoe?