Canoes for the NFCT: How to get them, and what to do with them at the end

We spent most of our days in those canoes. They were our primary mode of transport, but they also became a bit of a friend. I mean, we did talk to them quite a bit throughout the trip, willing them to go one way or the other, and giving them encouragement through the tricky sections. But where do you get a canoe to thru-paddle the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) with? Especially when you’re not from the area (or continent!). And once you’ve finished, what do you do with them? They don’t exactly fit in hand luggage. Here’s how we sourced our canoes and the other options we considered, as well as what we did with them once we had finally reached Fort Kent. Parting was quite sorrowful, and we do still kind of miss them.

What is the most cost effective way of getting a canoe for the NFCT?

Taking your own, if you already have one, is the simplest answer. Although starting in the UK makes that option a little more tricky. When planning our NFCT thru-paddle we initially looked to see if it was possible to rent canoes for the length of time we’d be on the trail, but it turns out that due to the length of time, as well as the awkwardness of the road network from one end to the other, purchasing canoes became the solution. Believe it or not when we were investigating this we were also surprised it worked out cheaper, even if you didn’t consider selling them at the end of the trail!

Mountainman Outdoor Supply Company at the start in Old Forge, NY was where we ended up getting them from. They’re located only a couple of miles from the start of the trail, and specialise in paddling gear, which was super useful for us! If you’re paddling as a group (or even if you’re not) it’s a good idea to get in touch with them at least a few months ahead. Although Mountainman has a large selection of boats on site in Old Forge, ordering will make sure you have a canoe suitable for the trail right where you need it.

Our very shiny new Northstar B-17 canoes, they did not look that nice by the time they got to Fort Kent!

So what to do with your canoe at the end?

Our first thought was “If we have brought fancy canoes then can we get them home to the UK?” It would've been great if we could. However, this was far more difficult to do than we initially thought. It turns out that canoes are too long for airlines to even consider taking as “sports equipment” in the hold (even after a call explaining what we were planning and if there was any way they could help). Funnily enough they were also too big for regular freight companies such as FedEx and DHL. The only people we could find who were prepared to ship canoes to the UK were international house movers, and they gave us extortionate quotes. Far more to ship them internationally than the boats were worth new! It also turned out that at the time we were looking at shipping, to book a large enough ISO container across the Atlantic was rather pricey. This lead is to the simple fact that we needed to unload the boats in the USA. They were only a couple of months old at this point, maybe a little worse for wear, but probably would have a good few more miles left in them.

What we heard from other thru-paddlers

One of the most appealing options at the end of the trail, from a paddlers perspective, is to have family or friends meet you at the end and scrape you and your canoe up before driving home. From talking with other paddlers this seemed to be the most common plan. It is understandable due to the lack of infrastructure in Fort Kent. Getting picked up works for some people, but it can be a BIG ask if you don't live close to the end. For us this was simply not an option.

We also heard from other thru-paddlers that they have “posted” their canoes across the country. If you have had to fly to get to the start, then it may be quicker and indeed cheaper to use public transport for yourself and post the canoe home, rather than sort out driving the distance. It is interesting that domestic shipping of canoes is much easier than international shipping, so if you live in the contiguous United States this may be an option.

Selling used boats

Now you would have thought that there would be a thriving market for used boats in Fort Kent, due to its location at the end of the NFCT, however this is not the case. There is little to no established way for NFCT thru-paddlers to get home, let alone sell used boats. This probably has something to do with the limited number of thru-paddlers that complete the trail each year. Also a little bad news, it can be rather tricky to sell high-quality used canoes in a hurry, and get a good price for them. So the position we were in, where we had finished the trail and were sitting in Fort Kent, was not a strong selling position.

Deciding on the worth of your boats

By the end of the trail you may either love or hate your boat. You will have paddled, pushed, pulled, lifted, scratched, and maybe even dented your boat. This is likely to have done one of two things;

Made you never want to see the damn thing again and you just want it out of your life, or;
Made you well and truly fall in love with it.

Either way, you will have put more use on it in a couple of months than many canoes see in a decade. Let us take a moment to explore that idea a bit. Consider this: If your trip takes around 60 days (that is 60 days of you being on the water) then how does this compare to a normal recreational canoe? If we consider a scenario where you paddle one day every week over the summer months (4 months), that puts you at optimistically 15 days of use a year. Pessimistically, how many summers do you get out at least once a week in your canoe? Probably not many. Next consider those 15 days, how many of them would be a full 8 hours of paddling and portaging? Again, probably not many. We are looking at canoes that will have done the equivalent of at least 4 years of regular use when it comes to selling them at the end of the trail. Maybe up to double that in some cases. This is worth considering when you initially think this boat is only around two months old!

How careful, and indeed how lucky you have been on the trail will also have a massive impact on the worth of your boat. If you have been careful not to ram it into too many banks and beaver dams your bow and stern will probably be in better condition than if you haven’t cared about this. River levels and what you choose to run or portage may also have a significant impact. We made the conscious decision at a couple of points to undertake more portaging to avoid scraping the boats down significant sections of low water (the area was in drought at the time). If you have been unlucky and clipped a rock, or unfortunate tree branch then you could be looking at a significant dent or even hole too. Either of these will impact your canoe's value. Something it could be worth doing is washing down the inside of your canoe each evening. This will take out the dirt and grime that will have accumulated over the day. Grit and gravel rattling around in the bottom of your boat will wear down not just the inside of your boat, but also the gear you have placed in it. This is of significant importance to your dry sacks. We cleaned ours down every few days and had locals at the end point out to us that the inside of the boats were in immaculate condition. Caring for your boat whilst it's in use will help reselling it at the end.

One of our many portages to avoid low water. This one was only a short 7 or so miles! Thankfully there were not too many bugs at this point.

Social media platforms

Regardless of your opinions of social media, in this instance it can be your friend. On almost all the major platforms there are places to sell your stuff to niche groups that are specifically looking for such items, be they collectible fast food toys or used canoes. We found that Facebook groups based by geographic location were the place we had the best traction.

Some simple tips for selling on social media:

Make sure you have good pictures that detail all the damage. You don't want people turning up and not taking the boat due to damage that they were not expecting.
Expect haggling, people will try to offer you negligible amounts of money or try to get them for free.
If you are thru-paddling then you can take pictures in Jackman and post them with a disclaimer saying when you expect to get to Fort Kent. We had a positive reaction to this approach. When reaching Fort Kent we just updated the pictures and descriptions to include a couple of new scratches.

screenshot of Facebook listing for one of the canoes

Selling on consignment

If you are in a hurry then this may be another option. Some outfitters will take used canoes and sell them for you, taking a small commission for doing so. This is very much dependent on their stock levels at the time and the type of canoe that you purchase. We found that due to the lightweight construction of the Northstar B-17s that outfitters around the Allagash were not prepared to take them as, we quote one outfitter, “we had a lightweight thru-paddler canoe sat on our racks for almost FOUR YEARS before someone took it”. This seemed understandable in that part of the world, as due to the type of water they have you need something which is a bit more resistant to impacts.

What we ended up doing

We made the decision to purchase brand new Northstar B-17s from Mountain Man in Old Forge, along with paddles and a few bits of equipment that were hard to either acquire in the UK, or couldn’t be taken on an aeroplane. Once we got to Jackman we put out posts on various Facebook pages selling used canoes. We had a few enquiries, and we set clear expectations as to the fact that the boats would be a little more used before arriving in Fort Kent. Unfortunately, due to some of the trail washing out, a couple of people who’d shown interest (as they were also looking to thru-paddle the NFCT) decided to reschedule their adventures and no longer needed a canoe by the time we got to Fort Kent. We did, however, manage to sell one of the canoes for what we felt was a reasonable price during the few days we stayed in town. The other canoe we drove back to Mountainman in a U-Haul and are currently trying to sell on consignment. We realised that this may take some time, however it did give us an excuse to see some more of the country. After driving in the USA we can now see why road trips are so much of American culture.

If you are looking for a boat to thru-paddle the NFCT in for the 2024 season then I would recommend contacting Mountainman in Old Forge, as they have a well loved canoe that you can get yourself a good deal on (full disclaimer: it probably needs a couple of skid plates put on it before another thru-paddle attempt). Wow, I think that may have been our first sales plug!