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Grumman Canoes are AMAZING. I have canoed the Suwannee River three times in one of these bad boys. They are basically indestructible. I felt safe every time I was in one. I highly recommend Grumman Canoes. They are my #1 choice.

I've had many adventures in my 17-foot standard Grumman canoe built by Marathon, including a near fatality (my fault, not the canoe's). I grew up on a lake in N.J. with beautiful wood and canvas canoes. They were works of art, but only good for flat water and a headache to maintain. I got the aircraft-gauge aluminum Grumman from by brother in the early '72s and have used it primarily on the Potomac and rivers in N.J., Delaware and West Virginia, both white a flat water. It's keel helps it track, but it's too heavy for serious racing. 

In the late '80s I used it to shuttle in two trips my wife, three young kids, our dog and all our gear to an island campsite on Lake George. During one trip down the Potomac south of Great Falls the canoe was swamped plowing through giant rooster tails. We never tipped over, we just sank! Unfortunately we hit a rock and put a 5-inch split in the hull. It was patched and has never leaked. A partner and I attempted Little Falls (against my better judgement) and we quickly swamped. We spent several terrifying moments under water before popping up downstream. Ten minutes later the nearly submerged Grumman floated past and we retrieved it and all our gear. 

I outfitted the boat with a sail kit which I modified to make the cumbersome sideboards work automatically. My partner and I had some thrilling moments standing nearly straight up on the gunnels to balance the boat as we soared across the Potomac near Mt. Vernon in summer squalls. Now in my 70s, the boat is becoming heavier than I care to haul and I now use kayaks for my paddling. (I compare kayaks to sport cars and my Grumman to a station wagon.) I'm about to pass along this boat to another generation as it will last far longer than I will.

I have owned two Grumman canoes, both 17 footers. I still have one and my youngest son has the other. One I purchased from the Boy Scouts when they wanted to get new boats and the other I purchased third hand from a man who inherited it from his grandfather. Both were built in the late 40's and both are still going. The one I have is nicknamed "The Rock Cracker" as it has seen extensive white water use and has the damage to prove it. It has uncountable dents and some cracks which have been easy to repair using aluminum auto body repair tape. There are holes where I used epoxy and even duct tape in places where temporary emergency repairs were made and have become more or less permanent. I have tried every other type of canoe in white water and will stick to Grumman because it always comes home with me. I can't say the same for fiberglass(expensive), Polyethylene(heavy), Cedar(very expensive), Birch bark(hard to get) and kevlar(extremely expensive). The aluminum Grumman is the toughest, most durable and easiest to repair. The fiberglass was a good canoe, a little bit lighter maybe but more fragile and difficult to repair. The poly Coleman was heavy and got wrapped around a tree rendering it useless and un-repairable. The birch bark was very pretty as was the cedar stripper but both punctured easily. The kevlar was light weight and tough but also became distorted after slamming sideways into some big rocks. The aluminum is middleweight and roomy and as I said, easy to repair, especially in the field(stream?). It has lived it's entire life outdoors and is a nice shade of green(moss) on the outside and looks old and beat up but so what, it still works and now that I'm 65 years old, I have a lot of experience with it and Class I, II and III whitewater are no problem and we have even tried it in Class IV which was a rough ride but we made it although it was a bit scary and I would recommend flotation bags for the real rough stuff as the canoe can become unresponsive if enough water gets in. I can still get it on the roof of my van by myself by inverting it and lifting one end and placing it up over the rear rack cross bar and then lifting the other end and sliding it up onto the other cross bar. The big roomy canoe that holds the two of us and our three dogs plus cooler only weighs 75 lbs. and that's not bad at all compared to some.

Kudos Grumman for making WWII aircraft that brought my father and uncle back from the war safely and then building boats that had the same strength and integrity that they and I and my children and grandchildren have been using with much enjoyment and safety. These boats are definitely a 10+ in my book.

Have had this canoe for years. Handles gear and 2 people or 3 people and no gear well. Fun to paddle by yourself or with a friend. This thing is durable and if you treat it right it should last a lifetime. The only real downside is that it is heavy. That is expected for its size and material though so just get a friend or a canoe cart to help you get it to the water.

I'm so happy to read all the great reviews. My first experiences in canoes were in Grumman's in summer camp I loved them then (25 hrs ago) and love them now. My wife and I were looking for a canoe in papers and Craig's list none jumped out and many overpriced them to my amazement we found a '67 15 ft Grumman listed at $80 no damage just normal scrapes on the bottom and slight oxidizing on one side. I gladly paid him $100 and took it out the next day. I felt like a kid again (although it felt much heavier than I remember them feeling) turns well and go's fast enough with a paddle for me and the fact that it was made in '67 and has been outside for at least the last ten Massachusetts winters and is still straight and true and never sprung a leak is remarkable to me. I give it a 100

I've bought a used Grumman 17' standard canoe 35 years ago and canoed flat water and the gravelly Class 1+ North Platte River near Casper, Wyoming a lot the first 10 years I had it. I had 17' and 11' Smokercraft aluminum canoes as well, but the narrow beam and flush riveting of the Grumman made it the "racehorse" of my stable, and it was the one I ended up keeping.

Yes, it was cold and noisy and it grabbed onto any rock it contacted, but the combination of rocker, deep keel and narrow beam made it perform well on all types of water. It hardly got out the last 25 years but the house got fixed, the kids left, and the wife finally let me free to do my thing and taking this UV-resistant beauty off the back yard rack and scouting for campsites along the river was like dating an old flame.

At 75 lbs it's getting tougher to car-top but when run stern-first and balanced it's easy to line up on the center riffles during low water even while paddling solo. It was amazing how all the old feelings came back. I'm looking for an 18 footer for expeditions but I'm keeping the one I have.

I bought my 15' Grumman Canoe in 1974, it has held up great for the last 40 years, couldn't ask for a better canoe.

I purchased a Grumman 15 as a canoe I could haul my family around in. Before purchasing it used (i think it was made in the 60's) I read a lot of the reviews on this site. The boat is super stable, tracks straight, and is tough as nails. I love just leaving it out back and power washing it once a summer. I have used it in strong class II waves on the Delaware after several big storms we had here this summer and only mildly took on water.

I would recommend this boat as a beater you can keep around and not worry about. What I don't like is how it gets hung up on rocks, it is like slamming on the brakes!

In 1946 or 1948 my father came home one night with a brand new Grumman 15 footer on top of his car. Man, were we five kids thrilled! Since that time it has been used constantly by several generations - filled with water and floated around in, fished from, sailed with a home-made sail rig, pushed with an outboard motor on a home outrigger, used in the surf of two oceans, and is still going strong. The only time I know of where it was tipped over accidentally, was by yours truly, who violated the rules and managed to dump it.

To this day it is in excellent shape - no dents of any consequence - has been painted then sanded back to its original hue. Has tasted the waters of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, and Florida. Most of these years it has been stored outdoors in the off season, and nothing seems to bother it. If the rating scale were higher, I'd give it a better rating.

Where to start? In 1967/early 68 we first bought a 13 foot Grumman, complete with home-made sidesaddle motor mount & a small gas outboard, maybe 3/4 or 1 hp, that we instantly called The Egg-Beater. Had lots of fun with it, made a great addition to Dad's 14 foot Duracraft Semi-V with 10 hp Johnson. The Eggbeater outboard was troublesome & finally gave up the ghost, but that was several years later. I used to have to stop halfway around the lake & clean out the float bowl on it. But for every outing using the motor, it was probably used 4 or 5 times with paddles.

It was probably in late 1969 or spring of 1970 that Dad called me- a rare thing indeed back then. He said a guy had a 15 foot Grumman canoe & wanted $80 for it- should he put it in the company bulletin board sheet or did I want it today? We went in the old blue & white '58 Ford pickup and I bought it that evening.

Our 13 & 15 foot canoes were as different as night & day. The 13 footer had an almost perfectly round bottom & would easily dump a careless paddler- it was *great* for perfecting those upper body/lower body differences I first learned of at Scout Camp a few years before! The 15 footer had- & still has- an almost flat bottom & by the time I got it I was unswampable in it, as friends in fishing or ski boats would make a round or 3 around it, trying their best to turn us over.

The 13 footer went some years ago, but my Grumman 15 still remains. I don't know exactly when it was made- the tag was chiseled off the deck when I bought it. I believe that was because Texas boating laws then required anything over 14 feet to be registered- but that's just a guess.

It has its scratches & scars, but the hull has never been holed & there are still no leaks at all. She's straight & ready to go- heck, my brother & his kids took it out just last weekend. Many times over the years, if someone does yard work, roofing, etc, they'll ask the same question, & my answer is always the same-"No, not for sale."

I've owned my Grumman 15 for over 40 years now. It has required *No* maintenance of any kind. Just turn it upside down, & it's good for a day or for 20 years. Direct sunshine? All right. The ice storm of 2000/2001 here in NE Texas? OK. What does it need? Nothing. When I'm ready to go, so is my Grumman. It was true shortly after I bought it when we floated & fished down the White River in Arkansas- Dad in the 13 footer, me & my brother in the 15- and it's been true ever since, for over 40 years now.

You say Tin Tank? I say Plastic Fantastic. Outdated? Time-tested. Flaws? Yes, aluminum is noisy. It's probably cost me more than a few fish over the years. Yes, on a hot sunny day- and we have *Lots* of 'em in Texas- it can do a fair imitation of a reflector oven. It's no lightweight- on some days it seems to have gained almost as much weight as I have in the past 42 years! If you should wrap an aluminum canoe around the river rocks, it sure ain't gonna pop back into shape by itself.

And yet- for all that- I still give it a 10. Why? Ruggedness. I doubt any plastic, Royalex or even Fiberglass could have survived without wearing through the hull from being beached & launched on the rough iron ore gravel-so common here- for so many years. You can even shoot fireworks from it! That might be dicey in anything but aluminum. The fact that it needs *No* care at all- just turn it upside down, at most you'll need to sweep some spiders out of it- really endears it to me. Far too many things require work from me- but never my Grumman 15. Oil canning? What's that? ;^) Sentimental reasons? Sure, why not? It's never let me down & is still ready to go after 40+ years- and often reminds me of better times too.

If you want the fastest, or the most snob appeal, or the lightest, or the best solo, or a hard-core whitewater boat, or the quietest for fishing- OK, you should probably get something else. But if you want a flatwater canoe for the long haul- something you can pass on to your children & grandchildren, something you'll never have to work on- get a Grumman Standard canoe.

My only regret about my 15 footer- for almost 40 years, I've thought the only thing wrong with it is that it's not a *17* foot Grumman canoe!

I paddle a tough old 15-footer, built in '59-60; it weighs about that. It was abandoned with a gunwale dent & 2 holes in the bow. I patched those with JB Weld, added a padded yoke amidships, squirted foam into the ends, painted Everglades camo and named it Pogo. Had to goose my gym routine to get it up on my pickup rack. Aluminum's noisy but 2x2-foot dovetailed rubber floor pads dampen sound. A Crazy Creek air chair does the same for my backside. Pogo's a good fishing boat, plenty of capacity. Kinda slow and skates in a breeze, but you can't beat the price: $0.00 with no sales tax.

Love my Grummans owned since 1957, never bothered by noise or cold and will keep up with the best of any other brand. Saw my first one at Boy Scout Camp in 1946. At age 16 in 1948 a buddy and I paddled the 100 mile Adirondack canoe route from Old Forge to Upper Saranac Lake where we put our rented 15 footer (flotation was air tanks at the stems) on a train to return it to the livery in Old Forge.

In 1957 I bought a damaged 15' Grumman for $35, in which a father and son had not survived a whitewater accident. My future father-in-law owned a bar and had it repaired by a guy who welded aluminum beer kegs! I paddled it in the Hudson River Whitewater Derby in 1960 and on many camping trips with my family until I sold it in 1965 for $100 and brought an 18' standard also a 65 sq ft Gunter rigged Grumman sail rig.

In 1973 with 4 kids I did add a Mad River Malecite which I could paddle solo or tandem. I continue to paddle the 18' Grumman on local rivers, Cape Cod lakes and bays and canoe camping trips on northern Maine. rivers. At one point when it was stored in the yard and not tied down a 75 mph wind gust blew it into a white pine and flattened the sides and gunnels at the center thwart. with some lumber and a car jack I was able to get it back in reasonable shape. A note to Grumman explaining the damage and they graciously provided replacement gunnel sections, alum patches, rivets and instructions to repair the damage. A rep at the factory even phoned me at work to apologize for a delay when my note had been misplaced. What great customer relations!

Something I've noticed about Grummans is that that each one has a story, usually a long and happy story. The story of ours is that my dad bought it new in 1973. About 10 years later he decided he wanted a kevlar canoe, so we got the Grumman. It's a 17' standard with a lake keel.

This is the boat my wife and I learned to paddle in over 25 years ago. (We're still married, by the way.) It was our only boat for several years, and the only one I could imagine wanting at the time. Other boats have come and gone from our life since then; others have come and stayed. The Grumman now has to compete with half a dozen other canoes and kayaks for time on the water, so it doesn't get out as much as it would like to. Every time I do get it on the water, I am impressed once again with the quality of its design and construction. Despite all the years we've had it, I'm still not tired of it. It's not for sale.

Although the 17' version is not a racing boat, people in shorter boats (Grumman or otherwise) think we're racing with them even when we're just sliding along trying not to leave them behind. It is an efficient cruiser. How fast it will go seems to be primarily dependent on the person in the other end. It's definitely slower when loaded to the gunwales with camping gear. Duh. If speed is all you're after, get a long skinny sea kayak.

The handling is very forgiving in a wide range of conditions, and it is as stable as a canoe can be. I can definitely recommend this as a canoe to learn in. The Grumman excels for flat and moving water up to class I. Out west here, what we call class II usually has a gradient of about 20' per mile, standing waves up to 2', and lots of snags and rocks that need to be dodged on short notice. With all due respect to other reviewers' opinions, the Grumman is not happy in these situations.

Other things you should know:
• The aluminum hull transmits noise like a drum. The sound is very nice when splashing through the ripples on a lake. It is very unpleasant and embarrassing when you hit a rock in the bottom of a river.
• The aluminum hull transmits heat very quickly, so the hull is the same temperature as the water it's on. This is nice in the summer but it means cold feet in the winter.
• A Grumman will take more abuse than a wood or composite boat, but if you really want to bounce off rocks, Royalex is a better choice.
• Salt water will attack aluminum pretty quickly, so it can't be recommended for marine environments.

Through dumb luck, i stumbled upon a 1974 17'"SK". I ballast it, and go solo. The "SK" version appears to be particularly robust... To me,it's a functional work of aluminum art...compound curves, neat extrusions, and multitudes flush rivets.

I made a simple rig to easily load/unload from van top unassisted. Rig also serves as dolly. My experience is limited the Nippersink Creek in McHenry County, Illinois. Having never paddled anything else... I can't criticize the handling, and find it to be just fine! I expect to have this Grumman until I pass it on to my daughter some day...

Bought a 17' Grumman in 1974. I still have it. Built a log cabin accessible only by canoe, hauled all my materials, hauled as many as eight people across the lake. Gem of a canoe. No leaks, easy to handle, very stable, could dive off and swim and get back into the canoe. Took it into white water, swamps, portages etc. Best I've ever had.

I just bought a 15 foot sport boat. Time to retire my 1959 pioneer canoe. I've never seen or heard of a grumman sport boat before but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna like it. Looks like it originally came with a sailkit. gonna have to get me one of those.

I've owned a Grumman 17-foot square stern for 35 years. Bought it new after getting out of the Army. It's been on many streans and rivers, including the Misssouri and Mississippi. Ran a 3 h.p. Johnson on it for several years and the boat and motor were a perfect match for one another. People will complain about the weight (in truth, I do as well at times), but that's only a problem when loading and unloading. Once on the water, she's an easy boat to handle. Not fast, but very compliant.

Would I buy a new one today? Probably not, with all the light weight, high performance materials now available. But she was a Cadilac in her day. No regrets, but would like to get a kayak for solo trips.

I have been buying, restoring and reselling canoes for the last ten years and by far the Grumman brand canoes are the best constructed boat on the market.
I have had at least 100 Grumman’s of all different years and sizes and have never had one leak they are all hand crafted to this date. I live 45 minutes from the factory in Marathon NY and have visited them on many occasions the workers are very friendly and helpful.
I also have six Grumman lateen sail rigs that have never been used. I am dying to try one out, but lack of sailing knowledge is holding me back, but maybe someday...

I give this aluminum canoe a bad rating. It's slow, cold, loud, slow and is a horrible design. I can't believe anyone would rate any gruman I've paddled higher than a 4. They're not bad for dragging behind a truck on icy roads, but that's about it.

I have a 1949 Grumman Sport Boat. It is a fantastic boat for both fishing and waterfowl hunting. A great performer with both oars and outboard. I currently use a Nissan 3.5 HP 4 stroke outboard and it will get the canoe up on plane with two full grown men. It is a tough and durable boat, perfect for the sportsman. I can also get it in and out of the bed of my pick-up truck by myself. A real plus! I highly recommend the Grumman Sports Boat for the sportsman.

I used to be a canoe guide in Canada in the 1970's. We used 15 foot and 17-foot Grummans and Aero-Craft aluminum canoes. The 17 -foot Grumman was the superior craft for numerous reasons. It tracked well on big lakes thanks to the keel. But it was a decent river canoe as well. Amazingly, the 17 foot Grumman weighs only 75 lbs. Flip it over onto your shoulders and the broad thwarts are quite comfortable even without a yoke. And it is PERFECTLY balanced for portaging. The equivalent Aero-craft was 95 pounds (a decent boat but a pig to portage). Based on my recollections, I just bought a 1974, Grumman 17 footer from a lady in Ann Arbor who kissed it goodbye. She had never swamped it in the 32 years she owned it. It was in mint condition and it reminded me why I loved this boat. I've seen these canoes get destroyed by going over waterfalls but the average smashup into a rock in a moderate rapids will only leave a dent and a scrape. An amazinly sea-worthy craft. The 17 footer holds three people AND cargo and still has a decent amount of freeboard. The extra two feet adds a compartment, more cargo capacity, and makes it a more stable craft in big lakes. Aluminum seats won't break out when people put their knees on the seats like cane or web seats. A classic machine. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Took my six year old son fishing last night in one of these. My father-in-laws built in about 1959. It shows its age from years of heavy use fishing and camping but still paddles as nicely as the day it was made. With the little guy in front I turn the boat around backwards and off we go balanced perfectly. I have one of these in my garage. I let my father-in-law talk me into this one over one of the prettier canoes. I was planning on selling this boat as it doesn't get used all that much. No way! Tracks best with 2 paddlers but that may be partly my fault. Grumman used to call this the "last canoe you'll ever own. No question.

I am a hunting guide in Alaska and have 10 Grumman canoes that I and my guides use during along the rivers in my hunting area during the moose season. Four of these canoes are the 15'sportboat model (the others are the 19' freighters). I can't imagine a more practical, durable, or efficient work canoe. I routinely haul more than a 1000 lbs of moose and camp gear using 15 horse Evinrudes along more than 70 miles of sometimes shallow rivers (with the aid of a lift). Great Canoes!

At age 14 one of my teachers took me to the Adirondacks. We paddled the Oswegatchie in his 15-foot Grumman. It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with wilderness camping/paddling. My first large purchase as a young man was one of these boats (about two years of mowing dad's grass.) The canceled check from this purchase hangs on my wall today, just like the canoe hangs in my garage. It is not alone, there are five boats/kayaks in my fleet but it is the gunnels of the Grumman that meet my roof racks most often.

I have carried this canoe five miles into remote ponds. I can solo paddle this boat. I fish from this boat. I drink beer with George from this boat. My dog loves to ride in this boat. I met my wife in this boat. We have done-it in this boat! Most importantly I have introduced young 14 year olds to the sport of paddling in this boat

I've owned and used my 15' Grumman Standard since 1975. I've left it outside every winter in northern Michigan, and it is as good as new. Its a tough, maintainance free, easily handled canoe. I've had it on numerous river and lake camping trips and it is a good gear carrier.

I purchased this canoe in 1985, and have used it on lakes and rivers in Texas and Tennessee as a recreational craft, just to go out paddling to see whats around the next bend. It's not particularly fast, I'd estimate it at about 70% as fast as the fastest boats in it's class. Two paddlers can move it along rather smartly, with a satisfying bow wave and steady trail of bubbles from the stern. I sometimes paddle it myself using a long double-bladed kayak paddle, sitting on a cushion amidships, and find this quite comfortable. It is slightly over 35" wide amidships, and has a flat bottom with tumblehome sides, so the gunwhales are a bit narrower and easier to reach across than would be the case if the sides were straight or flared.

The most impressive feature of aluminum canoes is the lack of maintenance required. Unlike plastics and fiberglass, outdoor storage is no problem, as the metal will not age or become brittle as a result of exposure to ultraviolet rays. I grew up seeing the riveted seams on metal canoes, so to me, the lines of rivet heads along the gunwhales and keel are traditional features which look attractive. The rivets are doubled in number below the waterline, to spread stresses and minimize the possibility of leaks, and this canoe has never leaked. Mine has the "lake" keel, so wouldn't handle well in white water, although Grumman used to offer the option of the "shoe" keel, which allowed better maneuverability. The lake keel extends down perhaps 1/2" for most of the length of the bottom, with a shallow taper to prevent it snagging weeds, etc. It does seem to help tracking in a crosswind, at the expense of slowing maneuverability somewhat.

Seats are comfortable enough, although I often kneel, especially if facing a headwind. Aluminum canoes used to rule the water, and are the primary force for the current popularity of the sport. The Grumman is a classic design, in the same sense as a Ford Mustang, or Harley Davidson.