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I have a mini given to me by a concerned friend. I keep it turned off in the front pocket of my pfd. For those of you who clip it to the outside of your pfd, or just below your chin on a backpack strap, why? I’ve seen backpackers do that and wondered why it needs to be on and so accessible at...

I’ll guess this is a male mold for either a composite hull or possibly wood canvas. Adding the steel rivets was the clue. Mark

I apply varnish with a 4" foam mini roller, up and down, then side to side to get a nice even coat. Then tip with a foam brush from dry to wet. Work in 2 to 3' sections down one side of the boat and back the other. Work at a good pace and do the tipping before the previous 2-3' start to dry...

Try Quetico. Essentially just a northern extension of the boundary waters but less people. As far as I know still easy enough to get permits. Once you do your first trip there you’ll become aware of the limitless paddling opportunities in Canada. Protecting your food from animals is important...

I had a similar experience wetting out kevlar, especially the amount of resin it took. The weave of my fabric made it tough to get the resin through. Much different than fiberglass, my Kevlar was more difficult to see the starved areas and areas where resin pooled underneath. Once pooled...

Stephan - northwestcanoe.com has canoe plans for download. If you look at the Northwest River, it is a 16’ prospectorish design that might be what you’re looking for. It may even be an improvement over an actual prospector. They used to offer this plan and some of their others for free but now...

I stretch canvas with the canoe upside down on sawhorses, so having anchors low to the ground works best. One anchor point is an eye bolt into the bottom plate of a 2x4 stud wall in my garage. The other anchor point was my car parked in front of the garage. Last time I had a come along attached...

I agree with Robin on stripping the inside varnish. After removing varnish you can tear into the stems and do inwales if they need them. Those are the first two things on the form when they're built new. Mark

I had one notable bear encounter in Wabakimi this spring. I did a trip in from the west side. As I approached a portage around some rapids, a bear popped up from some thick trees on the opposite side of the stream. It looked at me for a second, I gave a yell, and it scurried into the woods. Good...

Lots of great advice. Getting the bias strips on with the wetout allows you to scrape those edges when the epoxy sets, before you start with fill coats. Then you can fill the weave of everything together. This just reduces the number of steps. This being your first time with epoxy/glass, you...

I haven't seen your other posts, so I'm not quite sure I understand what you're trying to do. That said, I've never had problems pulling masking tape after the epoxy has set up, but is still green (soft but no longer tacky). If you end up with some masking tape residue at that junction, which is...

Just an update on how I repaired this damage. I started by cutting out all the existing fiberglass that wasn't adhered to the wood as shown in some of the photos from the original post. Then I used a RO sander with 60 grit to bevel through the 2 layers of existing glass as shown in this photo...

Just to be clear, I have already cut the glass away to the edge of where it was "delaminated". I cut it at a very sharp angle, so all along the edge is a bevel. The bottom of this hull has been lightly sanded and varnished a number of times over the years, and at this point the entire surface is...

Well, not really delamination since the layer of wood cells came with the glass and epoxy. This is my Kite, built in 2016 and documented on this site. This canoe is well used, and well taken care of for the most part. In the years since I built it, the canoe has probably seen 30 days of tripping...

We paddled by these two nuts on the Jefferson River in Montana a few years ago. I talked to them for a while, but it was unclear to me what they had in mind or how far they intended to go. We camped a few bends down the river thinking they would stop for the night before they reached us. They...

I have repaired cracked ribs in Wenonah canoes. I used Kevlar since it is stronger than fiberglass under tension. Ribs I've seen that were repaired with fiberglass have mostly failed. Double 5oz overlapping layers and peel ply on top to smooth out the edges. The Kevlar will cover and hide the...

To be safe I always go down one side and back on the other. You end up with a small seam in the center, but who cares, it’s on the bottom. Depending on the paint/varnish, and the temperature/humidity, you may not have time to switch back and forth without ending up with brush marks. I’ve had a...

Mad River made the 17' Revelation in RX which was essentially a scaled up version of the Explorer. I had one of these that now lives at my neighbors house. Its a very maneuverable beast of a canoe that can hold a ton. I see them all the time, used, in any condition but almost always less than...

Thanks, I do have that and a number of the map books from trips I've taken there. Mark

That's a coincidence, I have been mapping out a route in that area lately, Flindt River is on the route. I can't say that I've thought about rock climbing there though. Mark