Keeping Your Canoe In The Water

[MGC]

We put hours of sweat equity into building a new canoe or restoring an old one. It seems odd to do that and then not spend the few minutes it takes to remove it from the water.

Yeah....I agree. Last night at trap one of the guys was telling us that he never cleans his gun after using it... same kind of thing.
I'd be tempted to leave my car topper in the water if I had a place to do that. It's also canvas, filler, topside paint. I wonder how that would hold up? I'm not planning to find out.

 

[David Satter]

So I'm looking at this old thread again. I have a lot of customers with big heavy square stern canoes/boats. They leave them in the water sometimes for months in the summer. Their filled with batteries and fishing gear so they don't take them out or turn them over. Their in boat houses. Then they call me to repair them because their leaking. I always give them the speech about leaving them in the water to long. I ask them when was the last time you cleaned the bottom....well never. When I turn them over to clean and try to patch them theirs so much junk on the bottom that I can't even patch them. very frustrating

 

[MGC]

Lacking motivation to put it up on a trailer from time to time, or a boathouse with a lift, or simply a lift if the boat is being kept at a camp, the obvious place many people tum is to fiberglass. But as we know, fiberglass is not the ideal covering for a wooden hull. It does nothing to protect the inside of the hull, or the transom from water damage.
At the end of the day, the only real solution is properly caring for the boat. If someone is not prepared to do that, they may be a candidate for a tin can (aluminum) or fiberglass boat for daily use and abuse.

 

[David Satter]

I have glassed a few of them. A rotten job. They have manual winch lifts. They use them sometimes and for the winter. Though the bottoms never get cleaned. I wrote a care and maintenance paper I give out. Not sure if they read them.

 

[Todd F]

Good on ya for trying to help them. You can lead a horse to water, you know the rest.......

 

[Dave Osborn]

Water/moisture is the enemy of wooden boats. Every effort should be made to keep it dry and ventilated even if just for overnight.
I worked on a couple wooden boats for a private resort that were moored in the water all summer regardless if the owner was there or not. After a couple, I said no more and figured a way to be too busy to work on any more. The sun and water were destroying some nice craft.