Norm Hein
Canoe Codger
I recently took possession of a 194o-ish 16' Thompson Indian. It is in my opinion it is one great canoe....well except for what someone has done to it. I would like some input on what to do with it. Let me tell you first off what I see wrong with it. Here we go. First it was fiberglassed, even around the outside stems. The resin has oozed between the planking and has gotten between the ribs and the planking. It is not a good smooth finish. The decks, outside and inside gunnels are made of what looks like poplar. There is a cap on the gunnels that looks like a piece of pine trim. I peeled back some of the cap to reveal the rib ends and they are all gnawed up. It looks like someone took a very coarse rasp to them. The planking comes right up to the ends of the ribs and so does the fiberglass. The inside gunnel is rounded over on the deck side all the way to the stem. I counted 11 broken/cracked ribs and some less than ideal planking. 5 of the bad ribs are in a row. The interior vanish goes to looks OK to no finish at all.
I'm telling all of this to get you input into what can be done with it. NO MATCHES INVOLVED. I want to keep it. So here is what I think my options are:
1. Replace the gunnels and decks, sand down the interior and apply fresh varnish and use it for my river clean up rig.
2. Take the chance of destroying the canoe by removing the fiberglass and if it survives do a complete rebuild.
3. Just float it as it is
Option 2 concerns me because of the oozing/penetration of the resin.
Let me know what you think
#NO MATCHES INVOLVED
I'm telling all of this to get you input into what can be done with it. NO MATCHES INVOLVED. I want to keep it. So here is what I think my options are:
1. Replace the gunnels and decks, sand down the interior and apply fresh varnish and use it for my river clean up rig.
2. Take the chance of destroying the canoe by removing the fiberglass and if it survives do a complete rebuild.
3. Just float it as it is
Option 2 concerns me because of the oozing/penetration of the resin.
Let me know what you think
#NO MATCHES INVOLVED
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