I'm not sure yet whether the owner of this WWII-era OT Yankee will want to sink the money into this boat that would be required to make it serviceable, but I'm interested in how to attack it in any case. The attached thumbnail shows the problem: in a two square foot area at the base of the stern stem every member is rotted away. The tail of the stem is completely gone, only remnants of the most acutely-bent ribs remain, the planking is gone. All of the shapes can still be discerned, and the extreme end of the canoe is intact. It is clear that most of the elements in the aft 4 feet of the boat will end up being replaced or repaired, but my question has to do with stabilization, preservation of shape and order of replacement of parts. I am reluctant to open the thing up further without a good plan. (actual disassembly will be complicated by the steel tacks holding planking to ribs, but that's another problem). Can I bend new ribs over the outside of the canoe in a case like this, that is, would there be a hope of getting the shapes close enough in this way to produce a fair repair? Should I try to replace at least some of the planking to start with, even though there is little to fasten to, so that there will be something to seat the new ribs against? It's sort of a catch 22. Replicating and replacing the stem itself should not be too great a problem once there are some ribs to notch around and fasten to. Getting to that point is the question.
I know the burn pile or book case is the obvious solution, especially since this is not what most would call a high-value boat. That said, how would you fix go about fixing it?
Don in Vermont
I know the burn pile or book case is the obvious solution, especially since this is not what most would call a high-value boat. That said, how would you fix go about fixing it?
Don in Vermont