C-Forum

Any advice about buying an old Apple Canoe OC1?

An Apple Canoe OC1 model that is approximately 13' feet long. is for sale for $150 and I am considering purchasing it for a knock around solo because it is so light. It want to use it to paddle on easy stuff and maybe some flatwater. Can anyone tell me anything about this boat, its intended use and paddling characteristics?

The boat is in pretty good shape considering its age. This boat is Kevlar with skid plates, pretty light in weight, has some rocker and a flatish bottom, wooden thwarts, gunnells and deck plates. It appears to be made for whitewater and is a light bluish color on the outside. It also has 3 colored accent stripes below the gunnells. It is outfitted with a ethofoam saddle.


The boat has been patched, but is dry. The Kevlar does not seem overly brittle (no cracking). It appears to have been stored outside in the shade. There is some rot on the gunnells and stern deckplate which could easily be fixed.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Note: I read the previous discussion on the Apple Line, but it didn't address this specific boat.

Robert

Apple Line was a composite boat manufacturer in the 70s and 80s. It was run by Stan Zdunek. Apple Line built kayaks, decked canoes, and open boats - predominately slalom racing designs marketed in the NE & Mid-Atlantic States. I believe that the company went belly up in the early 80s, which, if correct, means that your boat dates from no later than then.

I have a 15' X-Cider OC-2, which is an Apple Line boat that I purchased used in the early 80s, raced at the 1984 Open Boat Nationals, and still use on occasion. The hull is based on a Gemini C-2 with built up sides. I believe that this was Stan's tendency with open boat designs, to take a successful decked canoe hull and build up the sides to create an open boat. Given the decked boat hulls typical of the time, this meant that Apple Line open boats tended to have a flat "pancake" hull. I recall that this is one reason why we bought the X-Cider, because the more current open boat slalom designs in the early 80s had adopted more rounded hulls that made the transition from a decked slalom boat to an open slalom boat harder for my wife and I (we preominately raced C-2M). I can't recall their OC-1s specifically, but they probably had more than one. All of his boats had names associated with apples, but I can't recall the OC-1 name(s). Your boat was probably also based on a decked boat hull (perhaps either a Slipper, Max II, Supermax, or Ultramax), although that's just a guess.

As long as you're not expecting the most current design, and realize that any boat that has been stored outside is going to be somewhat brittle due to UV deterioration of the resin, it should still be a fine boat to "mess around in." At $150 you could hardly go wrong! If I were looking for a cheap OC-1, I would buy it (but then again I'm very old school and lean toward composite slalom boats because of their light weight and good performance). I would fix it up and paddle it initially on only short runs so that if it falls apart the first time you hit a rock, you don't have far to walk.

John

Apple produced several OC1's, I can't recall all of them. Most were slalom boats. I once owned a "Zoomer", which was a very well designed short class (13'2") slalom boat. It was built in 1981 and was based on a C1 hull from that period. I paid $400 for it, after it's original owner paddled it twice and declared it "too tippy". Until I bought my first C1, the purple Zoomer was my favorite boat. I'm sure I would still have it if I hadn't wrapped it around a bridge abutment (with me in it! ). It ended up in two halves that I just couldn't get back together right.
The Zoomer had quite a bit of rocker, though the gunnel ends were only slightly higher than the center. It also was somewhat narrow (maybe 28")with a very noticeable tumblehome. The ethafoam seat was common for that time as were 'D' ring thigh straps.
Many local paddlers would go to Stan's shop and build their own boats, the results were variable. The boat you describe sounds like a factory built one. If the patches are not too large, and are still holding up well, then $150 seems like a fair price.
Since it is most likely a slalom design, it may not be much fun on flatwater. Especially on a windy day! But it will surely be a load of fun on the local II-III.
LEW

Thanks for the advice on the Apple. From your description, the boat sounds like a Zoomer - fairly narrow, some rocker, high sidewalls, just over 13'. It is fun to paddle, i.e., spins easily, but requires a J stroke to keep it in line. It makes be feel like a beginner since I am transitioning from a K1 squirtboat.

Hang in there! As a slalom boat, it is designed to turn easily and thus will be harder to learn in than a less manuverable boat. However, once you get the hang of it, you'll have great fun!!

John

My first real OC1 slalom boat was an Apple Zoomer. With its sharp chines off a planing hull and maxed tumble home according to the slalom rules of the day, it was a tippy boat. It had little secondary stability (ie you couldn't easily lean it down to the gunnels without going over) but the primary stability was great and it spun on a dime with its rocker. Surfed well and carved into eddies real well. For $150, imho its a good buy for fun. On flatwater, you will perfect your J stroke and really learn the nuances of your offside as well. Don't let a few swims keep you from working on the offside. If you get some big waves you may even be able to get in a little surfing with it. I let mine go to a sailer many years ago and he still uses it as a tender to get to his big rig after which he can haul it aboard and go. Gunnels are fairly easy to replace. With an older boat ,you don't have to have one piece ones. Go to a hardwood shop and get an 8' piece of ash 3/4" thickx6". Rip it into 3/4" x 3/4" X 8 foot lengths. Cut one in half. 12' on the inside and 8' on the outside will work fine (centered of course). or you can run it to the ends on the inside to continue the use of your deckplates. Use clamps to position and 1 1/4" wood screws where you have both inwale and outwale (screwed from the inside) and 5/8' wood screws with beveled washers (is that what you callem?) screwed from the outside. Sand and seal to taste before mounting of course.
Hope you have a lot of fun with it. At the very least, you've brought back memories for me with this thread as well as the aforementioned one did.
Pat