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I know I used my treasured 1.5” hard roller on the selvage edges of E-glass tape on the most recent rebuild. That little tool is multi-functional handy; for compressing fabric under peel ply especially, but also for thin foam pads and neoprene, tape and label bubbles, etc. Anything adhered that...

Cheeseandbeans, I doubt I’ll ever attempt a Wood Canvas refurbishment, but threads like this hold so much arcane history about WC canoes, and such a willing-to-share knowledge base, that I am continually fascinated. Still, if I ever work on a 1948 canoe it will likely be an original Grumman...

With a second coat of white rolled and tipped I wanted to recreate the diamond pattern on OOSOBO, the vintage Explorer currently residing permitted at Prettyboy Reservoir. P3190001 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr Not just because I like it and think it looks old timey classic, and is easy to do, but...

“My main hobby is going out to look for wildlife. Generally I drive around and walk very early in the morning or late evening.” Cars make noise. Even walking quietly makes noise. You will be delighted with the potential stealth of a paddlecraft. Paddling at dawn, or starting a half hour...

Blackfly’s Blue Steel scratches got me thinking – and I am sure there are stories – what single trip did the most damage to a canoe you owned? I expect this will pale in comparison to sundry wrecked and irretrievable pins, but the very first trip in the Mohawk Odyssey was as willfully abusive...

Clear coat carbon fiber or carbon/aramid weave is the worst for showing scratches. Clear coat white scratches on a black hull are neon glaring. But, in reality, they are functionally no worse than other scratches. Our red gel coat Monarch has 10,000 scratches, and some repaired chips and dings...

White Stripes. I could have saved some green paint by taping off 5” below the gunwales and leaving that band unpainted until I added white accent stripes. But it is easier to roll paint than lay tape, so I didn’t. Outwale tape still on, new tape 5” above (below actually) for white accent...

Two slightly different fiberglass models were made from 1996 – 1999. There was a KG (kevlar/glass?) model in 1999.

Mad River made five different composite layups (fiberglass, kevlar, kevlar expedition, kevlar light, etc) of the Destiny between 1996 and 2001, and a rotomolded poly version in ’07 – ’08. The lightest, the KL version, was 42 lbs, standard kevlar 59lbs and the fiberglass version was 78lbs. If it...

“But if you do choose to install abrasion plates a single layer of 5 ounce/square yard plain weave Dynel fabric, or 6 ounce/square yard plain weave S fiberglass should be all you need. No need for multiple layers of Kevlar fabric plus fiberglass” What Pete said, but if you use a single layer of...

“Every time we took the boat out to train in it if we hit something it would damage the boat. Sometimes it was a minor scrape that would result in a delamination like above. Or it could be a major thing like a limb all the way through the boat and almost through my leg” Clint, there are some...

I had done everything I could do topside for now, time to turn YARR over to expose her ugly bottom. The epoxied patches and recoated mega skid plates have had plenty of time to cure. Gawd bless peel ply for greatly eliminating the sanding required. P6130002 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr 220 in an...

Conversely (obversely?) what about the shortest distance? A lot of local day trip launches are short and easy, 50 to 100 feet. Or further if I don’t want to park close, and sometimes I don’t. If it is a popular/busy put in, with enough parking, especially on a day trip, I’ll park away from any...

I dunno, can you count to four (or three) hardener pumps after taking a short break? I think you would have to make a very “hot” mix, with more than just an additional pump of hardener, especially when starting with 8 pumps of resin. It may have been the exothermic reaction wait time...

After the initial scrubbing YARR weighed in at 84lbs, before the addition of a center seat, a couple thwarts and still to come paint job. The stern deck plate tip, an Old Town deck I installed in 1999, plainly shows that neither Tom, nor I, nor anyone he knows, was hip-flipping that beast onto...

“I read your title wrong, as in: "There is no better advice than bad advice", in which case all of those Facebookista's would be right” While I agree that “Good judgment comes from experience”, that experience doesn’t need to come from bad advice.

I don’t mean long carries between lakes or watersheds, I mean the furthest you have carried to first day launch the canoe at water’s edge. I don’t recall carrying more than a few hundred yards, a quarter mile at most, and I cart canoe and gear at launches with whenever I comfortably can. But...

I would love to hear that conversation when ordering replacement gunwales. “I’d like to order a set of new aluminum gunwales” “We have them in stock. Shipping will be $250” “Please cut them in half for cheaper shipping” Maybe it is the Dunning-Kruger Effect...

A 1994 MRC catalog lists the “efficient load capacity” of the Slipper at 300lbs That page of the ’94 catalog has three classics, Slipper, Independence (350lbs) and Liberty (250lbs). And the previous page has the Guide NEW! (listed as a 6” freeboard capacity at 550lb). Not that I put much stock...

“I’d guess an Independence” That would take some serious tape measure inaccuracy. The Indy was 15’ 8”. Not that it couldn’t happen. DougD was looking for a specific hull and I found one that, by the photos , seemed to be the boat he wanted. Except it was listed at 19’ long, and the model he...