This is my 1st post here.. Never had a solo canoe before and since I'm very close to Hemlock Canoe Works I was able to get new decals by just walking across the road. I kept two of the originals and replaced two with vintage old stock. Dave Curtis was happy to see another of his hulls saved. He told me they only made about 3 dozen of this model. I purchased it about 3.5 hrs away in PA from a fella who rescued the hull and made the the gunnels out of 4 pieces of ash, the decks of tiger striped maple and had everything roughed in. I re did the routering inside and out, had to use more aquafortis solution the fix the decks to bring out the same color after the decks and gunnel tops were re re-sanded to make the fit better. He did coat the ash that met the hull surface. I did have to get Dave to order me a custom set of seat drops as the standard center to center bolt pattern is 8.5" and these were drilled a little off as well as get long SS bolts as he used zinc plated threaded rod as he didn't have access to long SS bolts. No hardware store carried SS 3.5" x 10-32 bolts but Dave did. I used 4 coats of Watco teak oil to refinish all wood and wicker. After doing the glass repairs to the stern and float tank top crack it was re gel coated with the closest match I could find that Dave carried. The bow only has a few bow chips in the gel coat which I won't fix till next yr. The bottom has plenty of scratches as the boat was truly used. The gel coat was faded but the Flood Penetrol made all the difference in the world. It totally restored that rich deep forest green color, a tip from Dave as well. In hind sight if I could have I would not put decks on as I do like the original no deck version with the hand holds. I would have removed the decks but the gunnels were already drilled and to remove everything, plug the holes etc., is not good time spent. She was easy to paddle and turn and the day after I got home I listed my 1997 wilderness system 13' Manteo kayak that I bought new in Orlando and it was sold the following day. This canoe is more what I need to fish, hunt and CAMP! Here are some pics.
