Tim Clancy
Curious about Wooden Canoes
Just purchased my 1st canvas canoe. It's a 16' 1924 Old Town Square Stern w/ sponsons. Been looking for quite awhile for one, it's more of a boat than a canoe. Hoping some one here is an expert on sponsons and repairs. Bought it from a fellow who pulled a nasty little trick on me and want to get a good idea on what I'm up against to make this right.
He said he took it down to original canvas and gave it 4 coats of marine paint (interlux I think). Said he didn't do anything to the wood because it was all fine. I asked if he saw anything structurally wrong that I should be aware of and he said nothing's wrong & bragged what a great craftsman he was and how I was going to love this boat and the way it handles. Well the 1st part was all a big lie, but hopefully the 2nd part can still be true.
Took it for a maiden voyage last Sun. and once off the trailer I got in and 2 pulls on the oars and one of the brass oarlocks snapped off. He had remounted the patented oarlocks onto blocks of Oak and they were screwed onto the top of the sponsons. The one that pulled out revealed an ugly and amateurish attempt at a repair. Looks like he used wood filler or maybe an epoxy to fill some big hurt, painted over it and mounted the oak blocks w/ the brass Oar locks. Once off it revealed there was some rot on the out wale (I'm a novice so I'm hoping I'm using the right terminology). It's about a 4" area where about 1/5th of the wood on the underside has rotted away but, it's still solid. Maybe less than a pinky's worth of wood is gone. Right in the same area where the sponson has problems so maybe it sat in weed or leaves on that side. The other side i removed the oak block and that side seems fine.
This is a great craft and certainly worth the effort at a full restoration just want to know what I'm up against. My work load is too busy to try to learn this art so what kind of price do you folks think I'm looking at. Not thrilled at what he did w/ the paint and probably interested in a recanvas and a top shelf restoration of damaged sponson and out wale. Only other problem I've seen so far is one inside mid rail that the maple bench seats are mounted to has a crack from Mr. craftsman trying to mount the seats. I could see a piece of wood being spliced in that would be adequate.
Can anybody give me a contact to discuss that is very familiar w/ sponsons construction? Anybody here that knows more than me, that would be all of you, that lives anywhere near Lake Hopatcong NJ, that might consider stopping by to give me some advice?
I really think this beauty is worthy of a full restoration, and I plan on using it, it won't be a trailer queen or decoration. It will be boat house kept and share some space w/ my 1947 Chris Craft 22" Sportsman. Just looking for some guidance. My email is tim.clancy@verizon.net and my cell is (908) 415-2895 and that is usually good during daylight hours 7 days a week. I'll check back for any comments. Thanks for any help.
He said he took it down to original canvas and gave it 4 coats of marine paint (interlux I think). Said he didn't do anything to the wood because it was all fine. I asked if he saw anything structurally wrong that I should be aware of and he said nothing's wrong & bragged what a great craftsman he was and how I was going to love this boat and the way it handles. Well the 1st part was all a big lie, but hopefully the 2nd part can still be true.
Took it for a maiden voyage last Sun. and once off the trailer I got in and 2 pulls on the oars and one of the brass oarlocks snapped off. He had remounted the patented oarlocks onto blocks of Oak and they were screwed onto the top of the sponsons. The one that pulled out revealed an ugly and amateurish attempt at a repair. Looks like he used wood filler or maybe an epoxy to fill some big hurt, painted over it and mounted the oak blocks w/ the brass Oar locks. Once off it revealed there was some rot on the out wale (I'm a novice so I'm hoping I'm using the right terminology). It's about a 4" area where about 1/5th of the wood on the underside has rotted away but, it's still solid. Maybe less than a pinky's worth of wood is gone. Right in the same area where the sponson has problems so maybe it sat in weed or leaves on that side. The other side i removed the oak block and that side seems fine.
This is a great craft and certainly worth the effort at a full restoration just want to know what I'm up against. My work load is too busy to try to learn this art so what kind of price do you folks think I'm looking at. Not thrilled at what he did w/ the paint and probably interested in a recanvas and a top shelf restoration of damaged sponson and out wale. Only other problem I've seen so far is one inside mid rail that the maple bench seats are mounted to has a crack from Mr. craftsman trying to mount the seats. I could see a piece of wood being spliced in that would be adequate.
Can anybody give me a contact to discuss that is very familiar w/ sponsons construction? Anybody here that knows more than me, that would be all of you, that lives anywhere near Lake Hopatcong NJ, that might consider stopping by to give me some advice?
I really think this beauty is worthy of a full restoration, and I plan on using it, it won't be a trailer queen or decoration. It will be boat house kept and share some space w/ my 1947 Chris Craft 22" Sportsman. Just looking for some guidance. My email is tim.clancy@verizon.net and my cell is (908) 415-2895 and that is usually good during daylight hours 7 days a week. I'll check back for any comments. Thanks for any help.