Advice on Wood / Canvas in a very dry climate

ModSean

New Member
Hey Folks,

A little while ago I bought my first and so far only wood and canvas canoe. It is a lovely little 12 footer with triple keels, and a stem band that runs the full length of the boat as well on the bilge keels. I love it so far and paddling it is a dream, a little tippy but still a dream!

I did however, just bring it home from Southern Ontario to Alberta, and am wondering what the dry climate might do to it here. Any advice on what extra care it might need would be greatly appreciated. I have built a rack to store it in the garage when I am not using it, so it is covered and safe from the elements.

I don't know much else about the canoe. The people I bought it from said they got it in the early 1980s at a Toronto boat show, they thought it was built by a community college. They found it too unstable and stored it in a barn for 35 years. While inspecting it though, I have found a full assortment of Slotted, Philips, and Robertson hardware, as well some of the cedar ribs are lighter in colour than the rest (I know that could be natural), but it makes me think the canoe is older than the early 80s. I could not find a SN stamped into the stem, the only identifier I could find on it was a number under a deck plate 444-377-691. Don't know if that would correspond to any builders anyone would know.

Any advice or info on how to keep this boat pristine would be very welcome
Thanks,
Sean
 

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I think a dry climate is fine for your canoe. Moisture is the enemy of wooden canoes, so indoor dry storage is perfect.
 
Ok, thanks Dave.
Someone locally told be to intentionally swamp the canoe and let it soak which sounded like bad advice to me.
 
Soaking is for wooden canoes and boats that are ALL wood. The wood swells to seal the craft. Yours has canvas, so no need for swelling.
 
I'm in West Central Idaho at 5,000ft elevation. Very dry this time of year. The only thing I've noticed bringing boats from more humid climates is a slight increase in the gaps between the planking.
 
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