Oberholtzer
17’ Touring and Expedition Canoe

Length 17'
Width 35"
Capacity1000 lbs.
Weight 59 lbs.

In 2022, the 17' Loon designed by Bob Foote was renamed the 17' Oberholtzer in honor of the local legendary wilderness activist, writer, architect, and photographer Ernest Oberholzter. His friends called him "Ober" for short and the Ojibwe Indians he canoed 3,000 miles with in 1909 named him "Atisokan" or Storyteller. Among many other accomplishments, Ober was one of the founders of the Wilderness Society in 1935 and helped solidify US and Canadian wilderness preservation legislation ensuring generations to this day can enjoy the Minnesota-Ontario boundary waters.

The Ober is the perfect canoe for both day outings and wilderness trips. Easy to paddle on a leisurely afternoon, it can also handle an extended trip with plenty of room for gear or dogs. Adding a center yoke seat makes it an ideal family canoe. Loons have a shallow V-hull to reduce drag compared to full-keel boats, tracking in a straighter line than rounded bottom designs. The 17' Ober's straight keel and straight sides make this Navarro Canoe Co.'s go to for serious expedition canoeist, scout troops, summer camp operators and guides/outfitters.

Xpress   Xperience  

Oberholtzer 17’   $7,000  $8,000  

With Navarro Xpress you receive you canoe within 6 to 12 weeks of your 50% down payment, delivered anywhere in the continental U.S.. Pricing includes sourcing and handling shipping. You approve and pay for the pass through delivery expense added to your final installment. (Turn around time is subject to demand at time of downpayment.)

With Navarro Xperience your pricing includes overnight hospitality accommodations, dining, and a paddling excursion with your new canoe. Choose Navarro-X Quad Cities where you can visit the Navarro Canoe Co. build shop, or Navarro-X Northwoods where you take a guided wilderness tour in Manitowish, Wisconsin.

Xperimental includes collaborating to modify Navarro’s classics into your own unique variation on the theme.

Proven Standards & New Traditions

Navarro Canoe hulls are a hybrid layup of strong lightweight kevlar and repairable shell fiberglass. Full kevlar and/or additional hull material blends may be quoted.

Your Navarro Canoe Co. experience includes a license to experiment. Choose any color you wish from these marine grade gel coat options.

Every Navarro’s style and performance is fortified with the signature, hand-selected black cherry wood ribs. Full-length ash gunwales provide sleek gripping and smart weep holes.

Great attention to detail goes into each hand-crafted wood deck plate, seat frame, and yoke.

Establish your heirloom canoe with personalized bow and stern deck plate engravings. Finally, commemorate your canoe’s unique name on the port and starboard outer hulls. 

TERMS: 50% reduction off list price is automatically applied at checkout to establish your downpayment amount.

You are provisioned a unique no-log-in-required web page to monitor your Navarro Canoe build stage photos and proof your custom deck plate inscriptions.

Upon completion of your hand built canoe, an invoice and payment link for the 50% balance plus shipping is sent via email

CONFIGURE YOUR CANOE FOR CHECKOUT BELOW