Next Project and Advice Needed

[dougd]

Several years ago I acquired a kind of unique canoe. It was a special order according to the only owner started by Stowe Canoe and finished by Adirondack Canoe, both companies now gone. It's a carbon fiber layup with ribs and a wood bottom like most Stowe canoes. Due to storage by the previous owner the gunwales rotted and so did the tip of the ribs with some splitting. Replacing the gunwales is in the works, done it more then once so not a big deal. My question is is how to fix the areas on the ribs that are split and dried out? I realize that this is going to require sanding, probably a lot but am wondering how to fix the splits? Resin? G-Flex? BTW it is a Prospector hull at 15'8" L x 33" W x 15" Deep. I need to weigh it at some point since I've stripped the thwarts and seats out and now in the shop what's left of the gunwales are coming off. Thanks for any advice.

 

[BWCA66]

Doug,
I own and build Merrimacks now, the Stowe Mansfields were a copy cat made for a decade or so. I have seen that rib problem a number of times on repairs we've been asked to do. The ribs are veneer, probably mahogany, so they are very thin. One one canoe we cut the top inch off of the hull and redid all the rest of the wood and it turned out great. Had enty of freeboard and didn't really affect performance at at. I spent a lot of time on one sanding, cutting and putting new tips on. We matched them as best we could, didn't look too bad and it was cheery so will age and match better over time. I've also sanded, used wood hardner and some filler and just re-coated with multiple coats of resin.
Really might depend on how much time you want to spend and whether you just want it functional or are going for looks. Completely replacing a ribs is neigh impossible if it's still attached well.

 

[dougd]

Thanks BWCA, Not sure how I'll go about this yet but do want it as a functional boat. I have time and by Golly a heated workshop so will spend time figuring out what I'm going to do. I thought I might be doing exactly as you described with the top of the ribs, most just need a sanding a recoating of resin or varnish. I see a lot of sanding in my future but that's OK. Greatly appreciate your words of advice especially from someone who works on Merrimacks, love that hull!

dougd

 

[Cruiser]

Since you have access to the tops with the gunnels removed, I think i would try and clean up those cracks, saturate with unthickened epoxy and then fill then with colored thickened epoxy to match. A bit of shaping and it likely blend right in.

You could even just fill in the rotted away top sections, the same way .... I don't believe they are structural at that point, and it will mostly be hidden under the gunnel anyway.

I really like using these shaping rasps from LV: http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=20144&cat=2,42524 for this type of work, sanding epoxy to shape can be a pita, but these allow a lot of control and fast removal.

Just a thought.

Brian

 

[Iskweo]

Yes, what Cruiser said about epoxy and clamping the cracks together. You can also sand off the top of the tips and replace them with beveled edge pieces, like we do on the w/c boats.