15ft Chestnut Prospector Ranger

If I could only have one canoe, I’d Choose the 15′ Ranger model of the famous Chestnut Prospector. Looking through the ads on Craig’s List one day I found the following:

14′ Cedar Strip Canoe
Floats, but needs a bit of minor work, only $200. Comes with 2 paddles. Mike

(There were no pictures so I wasn’t sure if it was a strip canoe or a canvas covered)

15ft Chestnut Prospector RangerI called the number provided and spoke with very pleasant gentleman who unfortunately knew very little about the canoe in question. His sons had bought it some years ago at a garage sale, fixed it up, and enjoyed if for a few summers before leaving home. They’d asked their father to sell it and get what they could for it. He said there was a logo on the bow, and another fellow who’d come to look at it had known what it was, but he couldn’t remember what the guy had said.

Chestnut Close PlankingThe canoe had been sitting on the ground for some years. The inwales were in rough shape and the stems had been patched up so that it was impossible to tell how bad they were. The outwales had been replaced with extruded plastic and he hull had been patched and fiberglassed more then once. It definitely needed more then “minor” work. It was however a Chestnut and 15′ long, rather then the 14′ stated in the ad. It had the wide close set ribs and the original construction was beautiful. It also turned out to be a Ranger!

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