Old Town Guide 147 Recreational Canoe, 14-Feet 7-Inch

I opted for the Red as opposed to the Green model as I am in my mid 60's and live on a Lake. In the event of a capsize and possibly needing assistance I wanted a highly visible Canoe for others to see from shore. This Canoe is the perfect length for up to two people and their supplies on a river excursion. I especially like the smooth, flat bottom for comfort while kneeling or for lying in the bottom while at anchor and resting. It's of sturdy construction, light weight even for me and it's moderately priced. I highly recommend this Canoe.Note: The supplier ships this item via truck line wrapped in a thin plastic wrapper with a cardboard bumper on front and rear. I rejected the first shipment as it had been roughly handled by the trucking line while packed in with palletized shipments and damaged in several places. However the replacement was satisfactory upon arrival and I have enjoyed it emmensely.

Nice functional canoe But be careful when storing in hot conditions ,I thought I was doing a good thing putting a cover on it WRONG ! I now have a Sag in the middle bottom of the Canoe. I would expect a canoe would be more durable than this . Next time I will go with Aluminum !

Let me start out by saying that I come from an Old Town canoe family. My ancestors have owned Old Town canoes since the company was manufacturing them. I previously owned an Old Town Discovery 17 that I think is one of the best canoes Old Town ever made. Unfortunately, I had to downsize when I downsized my vehicle, so I purchased the Guide 147 based on past experience with Old Town canoes.The Guide 147 is a disaster! It's trim characteristics are all wrong.First: The canoe is designed for two people to paddle, but put two adults in the canoe and it becomes greatly unstable. I took my daughter fishing with me, and the canoe seemed extremely tippy. I took another friend fishing and he managed to cause the canoe to flip when he went to set the hook in a fish he'd caught. I wound up losing a $150 rod and reel. The canoe is rated for 850 lbs, but I wouldn't put nearly that much in it.The canoe is better suited for a single paddler, but here's the problem. Because Old Town has started to put in contoured seats--whose brainiac idea was that--a solo paddler cannot sit in the bow seat and paddle the canoe backwards. The solo paddler is forced to sit in the stern seat. This causes the bow of the canoe to rise way out of the water. This problem could be solved by moving the stern seat closer to the center of the canoe. Moving the bow seat closer to the middle of the canoe would help reduce the tippiness.Here's the confusing part. My Discovery was 33" wide at the beam. I could stand up in that canoe and cast when fishing, which is how I oftened fished from that canoe. At 36" wide at the beam, the Guide 147 should be even more stable, but it is worse. Go figure.My canoe when it capsized nearly sank below the surface of the water because those contoured seats filled with water and ruined the positive bouyancy canoes typically have when they capsize. I could barely keep the gunwhales of the canoe above the water.Contrary to what Old Town claims, the canoe also doesn't resist abrasions. I have put major gouges in the canoe simply brushing up against logs.Old Town has also cheapened up on the warranty. The canoe only comes with a one-year warranty. Old Town has offered to replace my canoe, but they first expect me to cut a huge chunk out of the hull containing the serial number and send it back to them before they'll ship me out a replacement canoe. The Guide I ordered previously from Old Town came damaged, and they couldn't guarantee that they could get me a replacement in time for a paddling trip I had coming up, which is why I purchased a replacement Guide from Amazon. Now they claim I will get a replacement within 7 - 10 working days. But what if that one arrives damaged as well? That means I will have to wait several more weeks during the summer and miss an upcoming canoe trip. It has me nervous cutting up my canoe and waiting for them to send a replacement that may or may not arrive in one piece.The seatbacks are the biggest annoyance. You can't tuck them away when you're transporting the canoe on your car. They act as extra drag in the wind. I also couldn't tie the seatbacks up so they wouldn't keep rattling against my car's roof. Those seatbacks have to go.I would not recommend this canoe to anyone. Old Town is the company it used to be thanks in part to being bought out by Johnson Outdoors. Look into a Wenonah or Nova Craft. If you still want to go with Old Town, make sure the canoe has the web seats and is 16 feet or longer.I am on my second Guide replacement in the space of just over a year. I recently called Old Town because I have concerns about the quality of the canoes coming from their factory. I posted the following on their Facebook page concerning the quality issues:"I have to say after all the quality issues I have had with three Old Town Guide 147 canoes, I can no longer recommend your canoes to people interested in purchasing a canoe. I will probably be selling my Guide in a year or two and purchasing a Wenonah."The quality on your canoes has gone downhill. It isn't what it used to be."Old Town canoes have been in my family since the company first started making canoes. My grandparents had a wood and canvas, an old school teacher friend of mine from New Hampshire has a wood and canvas for decades, and I owned a Discovery 17 foot that was awesome."I could stand up in my Discovery canoe and cast my fishing line. I don't dare stand up in the Guide 147, nor do I dare take passengers in the canoe because it is so unstable."I received a replacement Guide 147, the second one, this past summer and discovered that the gunwales aren't securely fastened to the hull. I was told you would replace the canoe, but since loose-fitting gunwales are cosmetic, I would have to pay to have a replacement shipped to me. In addition, I would have to cut a piece of the hull with the gunwale and send it back to you at my expense again before a replacement canoe would be sent. You seem to have some quality issues, and the only way to address that is to take a look at my canoe in its entirety."At the stern point of my canoe the outer skin on the inside touches the skin on the opposite side. There is what looks to be a melted spot on the inside of the canoe. In each of these, I was told it is cosmetic and doesn't impact the sea worthiness of the canoe. Chipped paint on a brand new car doesn't affect the car's ability to drive, but would you buy a car off the dealer lot that has chipped paint?"The contoured seats are crap. When my fishing buddy happened to accidently capsize my previous Guide, the seats filled with water and wouldn't fully drain out. The thickness of the seats make it impossible to get you feet underneath so you can kneel and paddle. The contoured seats make it impossible for a solo paddler to paddle the canoe except from the middle of the boat while kneeling."I am left to wonder if anyone there at the factory even takes a boat out for a test paddle before putting the model in full production."As a proud New Englander who likes to support New England companies (e.g., L.L. Bean, Malone car racks, et. al.), I used to take pride in saying I owned an Old Town canoe. Not anymore."My mother overheard my conversation I had with Jessica in customer service, and she couldn't believe how poorly Old Town stands behind its products any longer. My mother also grew up with Old Town canoes on Great East Lake in New Hampshire."Shame on you for selling such an inferior quality product!"I did get a brief message from their marketing manager in response to my Facebook post saying they do care about quality and that he will bring my concerns up on the manufacturing floor. I never heard anything after that.Heard back from the sales manager who was very helpful and took the steps to make things right. Subsequently, I am increasing the number of stars because Johnson Outdoors went above and beyond to make me a happy Old Town owner again.

overall good canoe. Well built and has nice, intergrated carry handles. The canoe performs well in choppy lake water, strong current etc. If you a just starting out it may feel topsy at first but that's the down side of a canoe that is safer when used as a canoe. Canoes really are not fishing boats or party platforms and if you are looking for one to do non traditional canoe activities you will need a FLAT bottom.If you want to explore, paddle, camp than this is great. The only negatives I have are: you need a lot of weight to get the chines in thewater. The canoe has wonderful had chines but and I guess it makes sense they only sit in water when loaded with gear. Just me being picky. I would also like the seats lower and the front seat moved back a foot. These may be perfect for others but Im relocating mine. So overall really nice canoe and best buy in a 14 foot model. You will like it.

This canoe put out by old town has done nothing but kicked ass, I went out and bought this gem for 40% off at sportsman warehouse 6 years ago. Since then I've taken it in rivers, lakes and salt water. This thing is so tough every summer I take it up to Kodiak Ak on a purse seine boat a way to get off the boat when we're not fishing, we've bounced off barnacles rocky boddum and this thing shows no mercy. I'm not to canoe savy but this thing has treated me ok in choppy seas. You just have to be smart. I've hunted, fished and even crabbed in the piglet sound with the 14 7. I've spent countless hours trolling by myself and on one occasion we even rigged this thing up with cheap tarp and sailed it. Rock on America and rock on old town!

I have no problem with Oldtown, the price is right and the quality is par for what you pay for. The 147 is an extremely heavy canoe, but durable. I have one problem with my 147 and it's with the seats. I rolled my canoe last weakend and the roto molded seats got water inside them and I finally had to remove them, to remove the water. When empty, the front seat it's self weighed 7 pounds. If you have the chance to purchase the cane seats, I would Strongly recommend you do so. I'm going to replace my roto seats with cane i will purchase most likely here on Amazon. I love Amazon and Oldtown...almost as much...but these seats!!!! NOT... This canoe is also tipsy compared to my Oldtown 169, be ware, it turns on a dime solo, but you will lose your camera and phone in the process.