Lotta Canoes this weekend

[Robin]

I don't have a pair of calipers but I must know someone who does, I'll check around.

I don't know what happened to the canoe. The guy I bought it from had it in his barn for a year. He told me the PO gave it to him just before he left for out west somewhere. The gunnels where rotted off and it also has some UV fading, but I never got the whole story.

The guy at Northstar canoe said to just put a fiberglass patch over the cracks that are soft but not broken thru, two coats of fiberglass below the water line. The big crack will need to be trimed a little to remove bad material then one small patch, then another 1" bigger, then again 1" bigger, then repeat outside and see how it looks/feels. Without a gunnel system on it the canoe is very flimsy so I'm hoping 3 layers will do the trick, feel firm and be better with gunnels.

Right now I don't have any long ash but I hope to get some this winter from a local logger. It would be green, but I have a local kiln to take advantage of. Splicing is a last resort but I will do it if necessary.

It has some chips out of the clear coat at the stems, so the epoxy filler I ordered should fill them and it's sandable. I then will sand the whole hull to prep it for a coat or two of grayish black Interlux. I have the seats and kneeling thwart along with the center thwart, all need to be restored, but the canoe should be an affordable lightweight tripper for someone, a few unsightly patches but with new trim and paint I'm hopping for the best.

 

[Alan Gage]

Sounds like a good plan. I've never done any repairs near that extensive. I'd think one of the more difficult parts would be finding a way to keep the hull shape in the area where it's ripped so bad while you do repairs. Maybe tape some cardboard to the inside of the hull for a little reinforcement?

Do you have any peel ply? It's a tightly woven nylon. Great stuff. Put on your fiberglass patches and then lay peel ply over the top. Use your fingers or squeegee or both to get the peel ply saturated and get rid of the air bubbles. This will really help feather the edges and it will also fill the weave of the fiberglass, both of which will save a lot of sanding and filling. After it's pulled off it will leave a light texture that doesn't need sanding before adding another coat. Usually one coat+some light sanding will give you a nice surface if peel ply is used. Without peel ply you're probably looking at 3 coats plus sanding to fill the weave and get a smooth finish.

You can use substitutes like wax paper or saran wrap, and in some applications they work fine, but they can also be a pain in the butt to properly place without wrinkling.

I've never had the gunwales off my Black Gold Northstar but have on a couple other lightweight composite canoes. Without gunwales the vertical sides were pretty flimsy. I think yours will stiffen up nicely once you get some gunwales back on it.

Alan

 

[Mihun09]

Repairing the Northstar would be fun, good boat to learn that type of repair on. Did you get the proper dimensions from Northstar when you spoke to them? You could put in temp thwarts to help hold the shape while doing the repairs and could go as far as screwing in temporary gunnels across the break to keep it in the position you need before applying patches.

 

[yellowcanoe]

It would seem that "them" is a "one person". The Northstar Robin is doing orthopedic surgery on is Bell. Was owned by Ted Bell. Worked on by Ted Bell or one of his few staff.

Now Northstar Canoes is essentially a one man operation. Ted Bell again.

There are a few one person small companies in the US. Cooke Custom Sewing comes to mind. I don't know all of of those in Canada since Ostrom ceased operations but I am sure of.. well Red River.. Doug Ingram and Pam Wedd. etc. I'll be leaning on Pam soon for repairs. She does the best craftsmanship on repairs on Loon Works boats now that Tom has passed.

Yes I agree on the thwarts.. composites really flare out when nekkid. I am not a repair person but I have been able to use Peel Ply in the course of repairing small boo boos. It really helps to prevent the edges from raising nasty cutting tendrils of glass. It works way better than plastic film

 

[Mihun09]

I know Pam wants to retire, she said as must last time we spoke, so if you know anyone with the skills and can re-locate, they should perhaps get in contact. I would, but I would need a large cash infusion to make it work although I love the idea.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I know Pam wants to retire, she said as must last time we spoke, so if you know anyone with the skills and can re-locate, they should perhaps get in contact. I would, but I would need a large cash infusion to make it work although I love the idea.

This is so sad, I wish you could jump on it. The oldtimers are either ill, dead or wanting to do something else. She's the one person I know with experience working on Dacron skinned hulls. She and Tom MacKenzie used to delight in bouncing ideas off one another and both master craftspeople.