New to the forum and a few ???

[asc67]

My brother has and old Willits boyscout canoe that he got from his Father in law and wants me to get it up and running. He took it out on the lake the other day and was impressed with how it handled. It did however leak a little bit..probably about and 1/8" of water on the floor after about an hour. He wants me to give it a couple of coats of spar varnish and I was wondering what is the proper method of filling the seams before varnishing ? Also is spar varnish the best thing to use or is there something better. Here are some pictures of it.http://picasaweb.google.com/frostyscot/Willits_Canoe?feat=directlink

Thanks ,
Steve

 

[asc67]

I am also wondering what kind of wood these were built with...Cedar ?

 

[Mark Adams]

Hi Steve,

Yes, the canoe was built of bookmatched Western Red Cedar. There is an excellent book out on the Willits canoe. 'The Willits Brothers and Their Canoes" by Pat Chapman. If you have a Willits, it is a must read.

 

[Kathryn Klos]

There's a great book on Willits canoes that may help you appreciate even more what you have: "The Willits Brothers and Their Canoes; wooden boat craftsmen in Washington state, 1908-1967" by WCHA member Pat Chapman (who sometimes posts here in Forums). The book is available from any bookseller... and the WCHA store or your library.

You may also want to poke around the old Forums posts on Willits by using the "Search" function above... just type in "willits" and see what comes up... maybe you'll discover you have even more questions! But I think you'll learn you have a pretty special canoe.

Kathy