restoration questiosn

[lhenderson]

Hello all,
I recently acquired a 40 year old wood strip canoe. It is a joy to paddle, however it's pretty beat up. I have never done any boat-building or restoring but I want to fix it up. I purchased Ted Moore's book Canoecraft, for some ideas on where to start.

All of the damage is on the hull and none of it is to the wood. It does slowly leak water, but my guess is that is coming through the bolts along the keel. What I intend to do is lighly sand the whole thing, sanding to the wood in places where the damage is into the fiberglass. I'll patch those areas and re-apply a couple of coats of epoxy and then re-varnish the whole thing.

My question is in the patching. There are a lot of long scrapes along the bottom of the boat that need a patch. Do I patch each one of those individually or could I just put a large patch (or several larger patches) along the bottom of the hull?

Should I have someone look at the boat before I do anything? I could email photos if someone wanted to take a look for me.

Like I said, I've never done this before, any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Charlie]

There are two different types of strip construction.
The newer version is thin strips laminated inside two layers of fibertglass and resin. The older version has heavier strips that are edge-nailed into a hull with wooden ribs nailed or riveted inside to lock everything together. Which have you got?
Charlie

 

[lhenderson]

It has ribs.

 

[Jim Allenspach]

Small patches. Don't go all the way to the wood when you sand. As soon as the damage disappears, stop sanding. That means your into sound layers. The only time you need new cloth is if you can't make the scratch disappear with out getting into the fabric layer. But even if you have to sand into a cloth a little bit, it will go clear again as soon as you epoxy your area. Glass looks white when you sand into it and the weave of the fabric is easy to see, but it will all go clear once you epoxy it.

Be sure to follow the manufacturer's directions with respect to applying varnish. Epoxy "blushes" a waxy substance for some time, like weeks. This chemical deposites on the surface of the epoxy and will make your varnish orange-peel and remain sticky forever. Many epoxies need to cook or cure for 2 weeks or more before you can paint them. Some recommend scrubbing with a scotch brite pad and Ajax cleanser and water.

Paddle on!

Jim

 

[Charlie]

I'd have to say that I wouldn't go to the epoxy bottle just yet.
If this boat is, in fact, much older than 40 years it would have been built before the resin/ fiberglass craze and may have been sheathed by someone just looking for a quick fix.
If the boat remains 'glassed and the clinch nails in the ribs start to pull they will eventually punture the glass. It's common for old boats of clinch-nailed construction to require resetting the nails every so often. But it can't be done if the hull is 'glassed.
Next, there is the question of value. If this boat was built by a professional it may be of significant value if it is put into original condition. That is, without 'glass. Only someone experienced could make that judgement.
Nailed strippers are so rare that I v'e only seen a couple and they were over 80 years old. And, I would judge, they are much rarer than the wood canvas canoes that now have cult status. So hasty patch jobs should be avoided until it is certain that there is no other way out.
The drawbacks to a one-sided 'glass job are this. Water can get at the wood from the inside. The swelling and shrinking of the wood can break the resin bond over time. The 'glass shell will trap water in hidden in places and allow rot to do it's work. If the nails holding the boat together ever start to pull or deteriorate the 'glass job won't hold whats left together.
Sorry to hit you with so many choices but that's what the old canoe game is all about.
Let us know how you make out.
Charlie

 

[lhenderson]

Thanks for the help guys. My father in law said he had the boat made for him in 1965 specifically for a trip from Lake Superior to James Bay (where it received most of its damage). The boat has a sticker on the deckplate that says Northland Canoes, Hunstville, Ontario. I'm assuming it's covered with fiberglass and epoxy because I can see the weave of the fabric in places and in some of the scrapes I can see peices of the weave that have been torn. In some areas the coating is intact, but no longer lieing on the wood, damage perhaps from a very forceful impact. As far as I can tell the nails are all still in place, the boat is solid, it just has a lot of cosmetic issues.