I'll take a stab at this- since you are in a hurry- tho I am sorta
guessing.

First off- are you sure about the warrenty thing on a blem? I'd get
that in writing.

Those depressed areas could have occured if OT overheated the sheet
just before they formed it. Unlikely that the Royalex manufacturer
would have let that go from their factory otherwise

I am a little confused about where these depressions are. You say,
where the gunwales meet the flat bottom. But the gunwales are the top
peices of wood (or plastic) that run the length of the boat on each
side. They don't meet the flat bottom. Do you mean- where the sides
meet the bottom?? I'm guessing that is what you mean. Let's call
that the "chines".

There could very well be increased flex in the area of the
depressions. No way to tell without getting the boat in the water,
with a couple of big fellows on board, to jump up and down a little.
Watch for oilcanning, where the bottom jumps in and out as much as 3
or 4 inches. Oilcanning shows up on Royalex boats sometimes anyway.
It may be worse on this blem.

On the other hand, I could be all wet. We could say that OT would not
sell a blem with more than cosmetic problems.

I dunno- if it was my hundred bucks- I am pretty cheap. but I think
I'd go for the non-blem this time.

Hey, that should be a good all around boat for you, anyway. I've
paddled them, they are not bad at all. Better than a Discovery,
anyway.


-Dan V.


On Sat, 22 May 2004 00:38:02 GMT, (Mike Swaim) wrote:

Hi,
I'm considering my first Royalex boat. I've narrowed my choices down
to an Old Town Penobscot 16' for a whole lot of reasons.

The local REI has two of these exactly as I would want them. The
non-blemished one is on sale for their anniversary sale at $799 (down
from nearly a grand). So good so far. But, they also have a blemished
one that appears to have voids in the inner foam core on one side
right where the gunnells meet the flat bottom (tumblehome area???)
Anyway, these depressions are a series of penny sized to maybe very
small egg sized depressions in an area that's maybe 4-5" long on one
side only. The assist. mgr. said he'd take off another $100 for that.
These depressed areas do not penetrate either the skin or the
interior, and are not soft at all.

I've pressed both on them and beside them as hard as I can with my
thumbs and can't feel any give whatsover. It appears to me that these
are areas where the mold somehow left voids in the inner foam core.
They do not appear to be actual dents, since there is no abrasion on
the skin. On the interior, they're not visual or even tactile. The
interior really seems in good shape. The rest of the exterior also
seems in really good shape.

Tomorrow I'm buying one of these Penobscots. The question is which
one? Would the described depressions keep you from wanting a boat at
what amounts to 30% off? A $700 Penobscot with a 100%, no time limit
customer satisfaction guarantee has it's appeal to me.

What do ya'll think?

Thanks very, very much for any prompt replies.
Mike