One or two thwarts on a 14 footer?

[Howie]

I'll soon be starting on restoration of a 14' Huron. And I'm thinking I'll need to replace the inwales.



From the pics notice how the inwales are straight at the center of the canoe - for me this really spoils the canoe's 'lines' so-to-speak. Sure - this may have been caused by someone resting the canoe on its side for several years. But I'm wondering if maybe part of the problem was having just one thwart located mid gunnel. Maybe it'd be better on a 14' canoe to have 2 thwarts to allow the center of the gunnels to expand out a bit to allow the gunnels to arc more naturally. At the very least having 2 thwarts would make the canoe easier for one guy to lift & handle.

Thoughts??? I mean, it's not like these things a historically significant - I'm fine with making improvements. I'll also likely remake the seats as caned types, not use gunnel 'caps' so the rib tips will be visible, add material to the stem tips to make the profile less 'stubby'.

 

[Dave Osborn]

Looks like it was caused by a thwart that was two short....
I've seen that on past restorations and have added a little to each and to keep the "lines" and avoid tat sucked in look.

 

[Howie]

Yeah, you may well be right about the thwart having been too short Dave - the ribs bowed out about 2" when I removed it. Thing is, the curved shape didn't return. I'm thinking that new inwales might fix that problem... but I'll have to be careful to preserve the profile for the rest of the canoe as well as make sure both sides arc the same way. I'm gonna let it sit a while without the center thwart but with straps where the 2 new thwarts should go & see what it looks like.

 

[KAT]

Howie

We did a 15 foot Huron a few years ago and replaced the inwales. Prior to the replacement there was a short flat section at the center thwart location and a nice curve after. I set it up as a solo with a single thwart ahead of center. This was the first boat I worked on and it came out pretty good. We used Ash for the new inners, soaked them a week then clamped them up under the originals to get the shape. I have a full set of photo's if you are interested.

Karin

 

[Howie]

Very nice. Your inwales seem to have been in good shape - the 'arc' is very nice. And I like the placement of the seat and the one thwart - makes it easy for one person to lift, right? Nice.

 

[KAT]

The original inwales were split lengthwise in several places which is why they were replaced. With the one thwart ahead of center I built a removable yoke for portaging which worked dandy. We added the grab thwarts at each end since as you say, no historical significance for this old Bastien Bros Huron. It was pretty easy to move around, likely around the same weight as my Chestnut Fox, 57 pounds.

 

[Howie]

Hey Karen... Could you please measure the width of your Bastien canoe - the center thwart's length will do. Since it's likely my existing thwart is too short and since it's too cold out now to work on it I figure I may as well space the sides out in hopes that'll help cure the 'pinched it' look. So I may as well space it out to something close to the proper width. Thanks...