Varnish over screws??

[petermueller]

I'm getting ready to put the final coat on the Willits hull, but need to know if I should varnish over the screws ( seat and thwart) or remove them as I did for the first coat.

[pat chapman]

Do it either way, Peter. The Willits brothers had some screws in their canoes that were varnished over (keel, coaming) and some that weren't (seats). I think it had mostly to do with whether the part the screws were holding were added before or after varnishing. The keel and coamings were mounted prior to finishing, but the seats were added at the end. One advantage of varnishing over the screws and washers is that they will stay bright longer.

[petermueller]

Thanks Pat! I did polish each screw and washer and it'll be nice if they stay bright for a while. In three weeks the Willits will be in Quetico for a week of canoeing. No portages! French Lake to Pickerel River to Pickerel Lake. Just sand beaches and fishing. High time that this canoe saw some water! It's that canoe soul thing that some of us believe in.

Peter

[pat chapman]

We'll be fairly close to each other at the same time. I'm headed into the Boundary Waters after the 4th of July for a week of solo paddling in my grandfather's '37 Old Town Yankee. Not only do I need a "fix" of paddling without offending motorboats now and then, I need to get the canoe back to its home waters as well. If I'm lucky I'll get it back to McFarland Lake on the way out of the Boundary Waters. Between the blowdown of '99 and the fires of '07 it might be interesting finding a tree to hang the foodpack in!

Take some photos of that gorgeous Willits and post them when you get back.

[Dave Wermuth]

hi, cliff jacobson talks at length about bear proofing your camp and has great disdain for the time honored method of hanging the food pack. He says that the bears know which trees bare fruit. (my analogy) and they have little trouble getting at the food. Cliff now says to hide the food pack away from the camp on the ground. Not on a bear trail I presume. So, you may not need a tree.
Regards. Dave.

[Dan Miller]

Don't know about other areas, but in New York's Adirondacks, all hikers, canoeists, etc. must carry bear-resistant containers (plastic barrels).

http://www.wcs.org/globalconservation/northamerica/Adirondacks/adirondackbbear/10212326

No need to hang your food anymore.

[Todd Bradshaw]

As an added personal safety measure, it's always a good idea to tuck a couple of marshmallows into the foot area of your bow-man's sleeping bag right before bedtime..... Better him than you, right?:D

[Dan Lindberg]

Yup, all you have to be able to do is run faster then your partner. :)

But,

Trees, there are still plenty of trees in most places, the area that was damaged is just small percentage of the BW, and even then, in many blow down areas, there are still some trees left.

Barrels - many have switched to barrels, and the ones Dan linked don't look to bad, but many are also using plastic dry goods barrels, which while keeping food/gear dry, are NOT bear proof, there have been reports of bears getting into these barrels.

With that said, we are amoung those using a shipping barrel and we also stash it in the woods, to date we haven't had a problem. We also hang a pot or 2 on it to act as an allarm.

Years ago I/we did have a bear in camp, even though we only heated water for soup and coffee for supper. The pack was in a medium jack pine and the bear was up the tree and chewing on the limb before we even woke up. He was about 1/3 the way through a 4" limb before we got out and scared him off. It took 2 rounds and us staying up before he left.

Pat or Peter, if you are going in through Ely, and would like to meet, send me a PM, we are often up and plan to be up over the 4th.

Dan

[JClearwater]

In Yellowstone Park in 1968 my cousin watched a sow grisly bear rip the roof off a Renault to get at an ice chest left inside by the car owner while he went off hiking. The bear climbed up on top of the car and jumped up and down on the roof seperating the metal from the windshield at the gasket. She then got her front claws in the joint and peeled back the roof like a sardine can. She then reached inside opened the latch on the ice chest and proceeded to throw the food out to her cub waiting patiently on the ground. I have often wondered how it was explained to the insurance company and how the guy drove home with the roof peeled back.

I don't think there is such a thing as a "Bear Proof" container only "Bear Resistant." Good luck with the tree thing. And don't tell me the problem was the flimsy French car. Detroit steel would only have slowed the bear down a few more minutes.

Jim C.

[Andre Cloutier]

Have never had bear problems camping (touch wooden head here) BUT, a fellow bowhunter once nailed a bait, a honey burn I think it was- up the trunk of a limbless tree but out of reach of an average height bear. Upon dropping his quiver, before he could get down to retrieve his arrows a big boar came in and with the bait out of reach, and i guess to lazy to climb, he stuck around for many hours, into dusk. Made for an uncomfortable sit, and not wanting to get down since bears can get very territorial over food if the mood strikes them he climbed down well after dark and trotted out briskly.
An eco outdooors store near my work had a box of bells on the counter near the cash marked "bear bells", no other description. I asked the woman if they attracted or repelled but she couldnt give me an answer.:confused:
Really though, was looking to this thread to figure out how not to load up (mostly) robertson screw heads with varnish, short of removing them which in not always practical.