I have owned the old town Canadienne 17' since 1990 and have enjoyed its use immensely from northeastern lakes, rivers and ocean paddling. One regret is not having been able to store the canoe with wood trim indoors. It has suffered from fungus and insect damage to the wo0d trim of which I have patched sections over the years. I had also recaned the seats once. I was thinking of redoing the entire ash and mohogany gunwales if I could get design dimensions to cut the wood and a wood source. The orig. gunwales were stapled to the fiberglass but what I had replaced I fastened with stainless screws. I was also thinking of recoating the exterior glass with a clear automotive coating but don't know if anyone has had success with such a finish over sun worn fiberglass? I had also drilled small holes into the brass endcaps to let the water drain and not saturate the wood while stored. Overall its been an excellent performer on the water, tracks well, handles well and weight capacity is same as a small car at over 900 pounds. Car carrying and portaging is not hard at around 70 lbs for a 17+ foot canoe. Sorry to see old town had discontinued this model - I understand around 1997.
