A Project More Than I Expected

[jenshenliu]

A few weeks ago a floating trip with two pet dogs (yes, they love canoeing no less than I do!) in a big otca 18. After safely passing a short section of whitewater, I got my first nightmare in canoeing - entering a rock garden with fast water in my beloved w/c canoe, and something grabbed the canoe at the keel and would not let go. While trying to free the canoe with a pole, the upstream gunwale dipped below water... scooping, wrapping, cracking, and heartbreaking came next. Fortunately, I safely bailed out the two frightened small dogs. What left is a project more than I ever expected.

The damages:
(1) Both mahogany outwales have about 4-inch cracks with splinters
(2) Two spruce inwales suffered with compression cracks.
(3) 12 broken rib - 6 with missing pieces, 6 w/o missing pieces but w/ crack lines.
(4) 20 broken planks around the center thwart.

Q1: Do I have to replace the gunwales even though they still maintain their shape (i.e. no discernable discontinuity)? splice a section? can I use epoxy to
glue the outwale splinter and inject epoxy to the inwale compression cracks?

Q1: Do I need to replace the ribs that only have line of cracks? Can I just inject epoxy to the cracks and repair them? I love to preserve as many old ribs as possible?

Any suggestions on the restoration would be appreciated.

 

[Rollin Thurlow]

Its a sad situation isn't it. I did about the same thing with my personal canoe on its first wihit water trip on the St. John.

the rails can be spliced. If the cracks are fairly long, its ok to inject the glue into the crack but you have to be sure the glue reaches all areas of the crack. You might have to open the crack a bit to do that.
I would check those "compression " cracks on the inside rails. They may be more serious damaged than it first appears.

If the only damage on the boat was the cracked ribs you could put a splice over the top of the rib untill it was time to recanvas. Injecting glue into the crack is basicly useless. The other ribs need replacing but you could also get by with splicing over the breaks with thin hardwood or other rib stock. If your replacing the ribs it would be a mistake not to go ahead and replace the ones with the hairline cracks.

With a bit planking damage, you can reinforce the planking from the inside but with this much damage the only effective recourse is to remove the canvas and replace the planking.

It will make a nice winter project between the times that you are reading the newest river guide!

 

[jenshenliu]

Thank you Rollin for you inputs. Have had a book that you co-authored for a while, it is time to put it to use. Speaking of the St. John, I did that with the Conovers a few years back, and had toured your shop after the trip. Since then, always dream to own one of your beautiful canoes!

Is there a way to determine if a compression crack of an inwale is repairable or not without removing it from the canoe? If a splice is inevitable, can it be done with the inwale still attached to the canoe? or it should be removed from the canoe? Thanks.