# Old Avon, 1986...what would you pay?



## themarshall (Aug 10, 2016)

BTW it is a 16 foot Adventure.


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

themarshall said:


> BTW it is a 16 foot Adventure.


That's a 14' raft. A 16' Avon is called a Pro. I'd say it's worth what they are asking if it is barely used and no patches or major wear marks on it.


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## PDX Duck (Mar 17, 2015)

Question I don’t know the answer too but am skeptical.

is a +30 year old boat an intelligent investment? If it truly has never seen the sun does it still have another 20 years left? Does the glue (assume its glued) fail?

I know ‘everyone’ loves Avon’s but this isn’t a Twinkie is it?


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## themarshall (Aug 10, 2016)

Well, I guess it doesn't matter at this point. It sold at listing price in 12 hours from listing, before I could even look at it. I wasn't fully committed anyway, but it would have been fun to take a look. Amazing the demand for boats right now, I'm thinking/hoping it might be a better buyers market in 18 months or so.


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

I don't think they were making self bailers in the 80's and that looks like a more modern 90's shape for the Pro. A lot of the 80's ones had less rocker, square backs, and all the ones I've seen were bucket boats. I could be wrong though...and that serial number plate definitely seems to indicate an older boat. I guess it could be an older Avon with a retrofitted self bailing floor...but that looks like an Avon floor with the metal gromets around the bailing holes. Looks kinda dried out, but that might just be dust buildup from sitting in storage and a nice coating of 303 might make it look pretty nice. I'd be a little worried about potential cracks/wear spots from it spending a decade or two rolled up and could have some mold issues too.

$2500 for a lightly used Avon is definitely a decent deal...especially this year when its so hard to find rafts.

As to PDX Duck's comment... I guess put it this way... John Sells, former owner of Inflatable Technologies, and Zach Sack, the current owner of Inflatable Technologies, basically only own and row Avon's in their personal fleet of oar rigs. I'm sure if Avon made snout tubes they'd be running them on their motor rigs too. I think it says a lot that guys who professionally repair and upgrade inflatables and have access to good deals from all the raft companies still row "20-30+ year old boats".


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## Sawatch Rescue (Apr 17, 2010)

Electric-Mayhem said:


> I don't think they were making self bailers in the 80's and that looks like a more modern 90's shape for the Pro. A lot of the 80's ones had less rocker, square backs, and all the ones I've seen were bucket boats. I could be wrong though...and that serial number plate definitely seems to indicate an older boat. I guess it could be an older Avon with a retrofitted self bailing floor...but that looks like an Avon floor with the metal gromets around the bailing holes. Looks kinda dried out, but that might just be dust buildup from sitting in storage and a nice coating of 303 might make it look pretty nice. I'd be a little worried about potential cracks/wear spots from it spending a decade or two rolled up and could have some mold issues too.
> 
> $2500 for a lightly used Avon is definitely a decent deal...especially this year when its so hard to find rafts.
> 
> As to PDX Duck's comment... I guess put it this way... John Sells, former owner of Inflatable Technologies, and Zach Sack, the current owner of Inflatable Technologies, basically only own and row Avon's in their personal fleet of oar rigs. I'm sure if Avon made snout tubes they'd be running them on their motor rigs too. I think it says a lot that guys who professionally repair and upgrade inflatables and have access to good deals from all the raft companies still row "20-30+ year old boats".


In 1985 Avon tested a standard Adventurer with a self-bailing floor that was in production by 1986.


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## Bigwaterforeveryone (Feb 7, 2018)

To echo Sawatch, Avon did put out self bailing Adventurers in 1986. I have one from '86, albeit it has been used and loved a lot harder than this one. If you follow the craigslist link, they show the serial number and it shows it as from 1986.


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

Learn something new every day.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Electric-Mayhem said:


> I don't think they were making self bailers in the 80's and that looks like a more modern 90's shape for the Pro. A lot of the 80's ones had less rocker, square backs, and all the ones I've seen were bucket boats. I could be wrong though...and that serial number plate definitely seems to indicate an older boat. I guess it could be an older Avon with a retrofitted self bailing floor...but that looks like an Avon floor with the metal gromets around the bailing holes. Looks kinda dried out, but that might just be dust buildup from sitting in storage and a nice coating of 303 might make it look pretty nice. I'd be a little worried about potential cracks/wear spots from it spending a decade or two rolled up and could have some mold issues too.
> 
> $2500 for a lightly used Avon is definitely a decent deal...especially this year when its so hard to find rafts.
> 
> As to PDX Duck's comment... I guess put it this way... John Sells, former owner of Inflatable Technologies, and Zach Sack, the current owner of Inflatable Technologies, basically only own and row Avon's in their personal fleet of oar rigs. I'm sure if Avon made snout tubes they'd be running them on their motor rigs too. I think it says a lot that guys who professionally repair and upgrade inflatables and have access to good deals from all the raft companies still row "20-30+ year old boats".


My 1983 Pro is a factory self Bailer. I only own Avon or Hyside boats.. Hyside cause as you point out, there are no Avon snout tubes LOL.


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## matzner (Jun 1, 2018)

I have a second hand Avon Adventurer self bailer from about the same vintage and the Hypalon is in great shape but I had to replace all the valves because the neoprene boots rotted out. Otherwise the boat is great. 
DM


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

You know what, things do wear out, and rubber is one of them, at least that type of vulcanized rubber. I had inflatable technologies down in Denver replace all my valves with lea field c7s. They did an outstanding job and it's as close as factory that you could possibly get without it ever being factory. They made the die that extruded the original '80s yellow Avon rub strake, and replaced mine with the extrusion. It's an exact duplication. Thanks to them, they rebuilt my d-rings.

They know HOW torestore a boat .. 1983... still original fabric for the tubes, the boat will probably last another 30 years.. imagine that if you will, a 70 or 80-year-old inflatable raft. I've never seen one, but I'll tell you it sure seems possible when I look at my fabric... Maybe high side, maybe the new NRS's, but they haven't held the test the time. Nothing lasts like a properly taken care of Avon. That being said YMMV


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## NativeDiver (Jun 7, 2017)

Might be a buy-


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