I bought our EasyRider Raven 17' used on Craigslist. It looked like it had some tough use even for an older canoe. A lot of rock scrapes, green paint was faded big time, etc. I bought it for a canoe trip on the Bowron Lakes circuit for my son and I. It worked great. It is a very fast canoe. If you want to get ahead of the group this is the canoe to do it. It knifes through the water.
I was a bit concerned when we where playing around on The Chute on the circuit with the Raven 17' empty because we would go through the center of The Chute and we would take on some water everytime. We were planning to run The Chute with loaded canoes the next day and I didn't want to get our gear wet. I loaded the Raven 17' a bit heavier to the rear and we didn't get a drop of water in the canoe from the chute or Roller Coaster. It tracks well on the flat water and handles the rivers with ease. It handled all our gear with ease. It slides right over any rocks or stumps in the rivers I have been in. In larger waves (windy lakes) it does not ride over the waves but knifes through them, but it never has been an issue for us.
I love this old canoe and will probably purchase a new 18'6" Raven from EasyRider so the rest of the family can join us.
