Unknown Canoe, Need Help!

[TwoRivers]

I purchased this two seater canoe locally in SE Virginia recently, and it has no hull number, no manufacture or model. It is approximately 16'9" long and 30" wide between the seats.



No gunwale, just two wooden seats bolted to the fiberglass. Two metal eyelets at bow and stern embedded in the hull.

I intend to DIY some gunwales from hardware store hardwood, but can anyone help me ID this thing? Does it need to have thwarts installed?

There are no holes anywhere in the gunwale fiberglass indicating there used to be additional hardware. The seats mount to brackets that are embedded in the hull glass. The edges of the gunwale fiberglass is rough, leading me to believe it may have at one point had some kind of edging?

Any tips or tricks to make it river worthy are appreciated! I've had it on the water and it floats and paddled fine on flat water.

Nervous about taking it on anything than flat water without gunwales or thwarts

 

[TwoRivers]

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

TwoRivers, welcome to site membership! Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Also, please add your location to the Account Details page in your profile, which will cause it to show under your avatar, as this is a geographic sport. Many of the site's technical features are explained in Features: Help and How-To Running Thread. We look forward to your participation in our canoe community.

If the canoe has no HIN or other identification number or name, I wouldn't know how to identify it unless someone here actually recognizes that kind of unusual fiberglass build. Maybe with that folded lip of fiberglass on the sheer it never had or needed gunwales or thwarts if it is strong. However, it can't hurt to add them for increased structural integrity, though that will add weight. Hopefully some other folks will have additional thoughts.

 

[goonstroke]

I purchased this two seater canoe locally in SE Virginia recently, and it has no hull number, no manufacture or model. It is approximately 16'9" long and 30" wide between the seats.

View attachment 139861

No gunwale, just two wooden seats bolted to the fiberglass. Two metal eyelets at bow and stern embedded in the hull.

I intend to DIY some gunwales from hardware store hardwood, but can anyone help me ID this thing? Does it need to have thwarts installed?

There are no holes anywhere in the gunwale fiberglass indicating there used to be additional hardware. The seats mount to brackets that are embedded in the hull glass. The edges of the gunwale fiberglass is rough, leading me to believe it may have at one point had some kind of edging?

Any tips or tricks to make it river worthy are appreciated! I've had it on the water and it floats and paddled fine on flat water.

Nervous about taking it on anything than flat water without gunwales or thwarts

How rigid is the hull in the middle? If it's fairly stiff, it could be that it never had thwarts and doesn't need them. If it once had a center thwart/yoke I expect you'd see some signs of mounting, like whatever brackets are holding the seats. It also wouldn't surprise me if it never had gunwales, or at least not wood or aluminum gunwales, given how the decks are integral to the hull. You might be able to give it a nice edge with something like car door edge trim, some people use that on the ends of sans-deck canoes or kayak cockpits. Wood would be more work and you'd have to figure out where to stop at the ends.

Usually when a canoe has a keel it's meant as a lake boat. Nothing wrong with some smooth rivers, but I'd stay away from shallow streams and sharp rocks.