I'm thinking of buying a four-person watercraft

I'd say a used four person human-powered watercraft would be money well spent. Any four-person human-powered watercraft owners on GRM?

4 people in that little canoe sounds like an awful idea.

4 in most any canoe is an awful idea

Ehh. My grandad fit 5 into a little three person canoe without it tipping, so how hard can it be to fit four people into a four person canoe (three person canoe pictured above, eh?)

Canoes are fine. Not fast or thrilling but if you're shopping for a human powered watercraft you know that already.

Four people in one doesn't sound like much fun though. I'd buy two if I needed that much seating. Prefer aluminum and squarish profile bottomed. They last forever and the more square profile is more stabile than the rounder shaped bottom ones.

that's a three person at best IF you have pfd's and keep close to shore and know how to j stroke and come in when the wind picks up and don't drink and don't load anything else in the boat and have a spare paddle.

Check the frame rails for rust before you buy

I've got a 18' canoe that will hold 4 without too much trouble. I wouldn't put 4 linebackers in it, but it will hold me (270), my eldest (225), my middle son (120), and my youngest son (100). Off the top of my head, it's rated for 1200 pounds.

The 18 footer has the advantage of being faster than my 16. The longer the hull, the faster.

I picked it up used off Craigslist for about $100.

I went on a canoe trip once, in 1976. Worst week of my life. Haven't been near one since, nor have I had any desire to do so.

Have you ever been in a canoe?

I use my neighbor's canoe when I find big pieces of trash in the marsh that I can't get back home in my kayak or paddleboard. It is a 17' Coleman. I've only ever used it alone and it works well for what I use it for as a marsh trash truck. I've also used it as a floating work platform to do work on my boat lift. It can hold me, an angle grinder, a reciprocating saw, and a small bag of tools. She bought it off CL and it came with two paddles, 2 pfds and a dolly.

Durability is the only advantage to aluminum, but it is often overkill for personal use. They are much heavier than glass or composite. As far as a square hull, it has good initial stability, but something like a tumblehome(oval) will improve with load, and remain far more stable with any kind of lean angle.

Back to the original intent, why a 4 person boat? The only purpose I can think to go there is if you need 4 people of capacity yet can not handle the logistics of 2 2 seat boats.

I could go on further, as there are many considerations and veriables, but the short answer is see what is cheap on CL, or kiji(?) up there.

For a point of reference, my boat fleet is a 14' kayak, a free 12' glass canoe, and a free 10' aluminum john boat.

You're Canadian. Four person watercraft look like this:

This thread needs moar pallet raft

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

Yup. It's so tranquil!

aluminum canoes are faster as well, no flex so it doesn't deflect from current or forces while paddling, and will just continue to cut through. I used to love canoeing, until I tried sit on top kayaks, in particular the hobies with the mirage drive. Using the mirage drive and paddling makes you haul. and you can switch from one method of propelling to the other on the fly to conserve energy for long distance paddling or rougher conditions. they aren't cheap though, but they're fantastic.

I'm fighting so hard not to report the original post right now.

NOHOME wrote: Check the frame rails for rust before you buy

Is it bad that I saw that coming?

If you do it right, you can combine 4 or more person watercraft with your automotive enthusiasm AND keep the kids occupied: