patrick corry
solo canoeist
I may need guidance. I have reached the point in my Chestnut Bobs Special restoration where I'm anticipating putting the canvas on. Prior to doing so, in order to maintain structural integrity, I will need to install the center thwart and seats. I can use the old inwales to duplicate the original locations, but the seats were placed in pretty extreme positions. The front edge of the stern seat was located on the rib on which the stern stem terminates, resulting in a tiny seat quite far back in the canoe. The bow seat was originally in a 'normal' location but at some point a previous owner cut it down and moved it forward to a similarly extreme location- with very little leg room! I have no problem with the rear seat location for paddling function since I will use this as a solo canoe and paddle from the bow seat "backwards". However, I also want the stern seat frame to act in place of a quarter thwart since this canoe, like most of the 15' Chestnuts, only has a center thwart, so moving it a bit ahead will help with that.
The bow seat original location, noted from the original inwales, had the rear edge of the frame 29.5" from the established location of the center thwart. Measuring three other 15' canoes, yielded similar measurements for the rear of the bow seat at 23", 25.5" (Chestnut Chum), and 27.5" from the centerline. In my experience closer to the center is better for solo paddling.
Lastly, in order to create the best balance for portaging, would it be best to install the seats in the desired locations, then determine the balance point precisely in order to install the center thwart rather than arbitrarily choosing the measured center? I do prefer to have the canoe slightly weighted back heavy rather than having to "lift" the front to see where I'm going. I typically use thwart pads rather than lashing paddles to support the canoe on my shoulders. I'm sure the paddles add weight forward and affect balance.
The bow seat original location, noted from the original inwales, had the rear edge of the frame 29.5" from the established location of the center thwart. Measuring three other 15' canoes, yielded similar measurements for the rear of the bow seat at 23", 25.5" (Chestnut Chum), and 27.5" from the centerline. In my experience closer to the center is better for solo paddling.
Lastly, in order to create the best balance for portaging, would it be best to install the seats in the desired locations, then determine the balance point precisely in order to install the center thwart rather than arbitrarily choosing the measured center? I do prefer to have the canoe slightly weighted back heavy rather than having to "lift" the front to see where I'm going. I typically use thwart pads rather than lashing paddles to support the canoe on my shoulders. I'm sure the paddles add weight forward and affect balance.