Old Town Discovery 164 Canoe

This canoe is in amazing condition. The hull is virtually scratch-free. The rear seat caning wore out, so I replaced it with nylon rope (very comfortable to sit on), but the front is still in good shape. If you'd like me to string the front seat so they match, I can do that. This is Old Town's description of the Discovery Canoe.

The Discovery series is one of Old Town's most recognized watercraft. Its clean lines, slight rocker, and distinct green and red colors make it instantly identifiable, even from considerable distances. Head to any lake house in the U.S or Canada and there's a pretty good chance you'll find a dusty old Discovery tucked neatly behind a shed or back porch. What's so special about the Discovery that made it such a popular canoe? And where does the name Discovery come from?

You might be surprised at the answer. The first Discovery was molded in 1983 by Lew Gilman, and made its official catalog debut in 1985 as the 17' 4" Discovery. At the time, Gilman had been experimenting with a revolutionary rotational molding process that produced an exceptionaly durable three-layer, foam core hull, and planned on using this new process to develop the next generation of Old Town canoes. The first model was named 'Discovery' after the NASA space shuttle that had just successfully completed it's madien voyage in 1984. The Discovery was sold exclusively to rental and livery businesses for a year of rigorous testing, the general rule of thumb is one year of use at a rental location equals about 10 years of normal wear and tear.

The results were overwhelmingly positive. In the years to follow, Old Town introduced a 15'8" model dubbed the Discovery 16, and the series quickly became one of the most popular in the market, and helped Old Town regain the title of largest manufacturer of canoes in the world, stealing the position back from Coleman.