A simple canoe rehab

Steve Sanford

Steve Sanford

Well-known member
Good morning, All~


I have a bunch of canoes - not sure how many...somewhere around a dozen?


As much as I love traditional gunning vessels - especially Great South Bay Scooters and Barnegat Bay Sneakboxes - the small craft best suited for hunting ducks here in the dairy country of Upstate New York is a canoe. But - as with other gunning situations - all the many permutations of pursuing ducks and geese require specialized gear - and thus a "fleet".


So, for many years, I have been on the lookout for suitable canoes. Size, shape and material are key. Condition is not too important - but price is. Never having paid more than $100 for any boat (although, yes, I have spent many thousand$ working on my various fleets), I am clearly in the "used" market. (I did buy one new vessel from a retailer - a kayak for my wife.) So, I keep a weather eye on craigslist and the local free papers - and keep both a length of line and sufficient cash in my Element for "rapid response" - to advertisements or roadside finds.


Here is one I came across on my way to Champlain one Spring. Of course it needs some work - but all readily within the capacity of Pencil Brook Boatworks. My roof rack was already occupied - so I purchased it and continued on my way.


View attachment A IMG_8558.JPG



I retrieved it on the return trip.


View attachment B Profile on Element.jpg



The subject of this rehab is another Indian River Canoe - maybe the same model. They were built in Florida - and the company is still in business. I think I paid $80 for this one. Although my on-the-spot assessment was mostly complete, I did not notice until I got back the the farm that it had been peppered with shot - maybe 7 1/2s ? - at least once in its lifetime. Thickened epoxy in the 20 or so perforations solved that problem. I then nstalled new factory-made seats and a carrying yoke and used it on Lake Champlain for a couple of Summers. This past Fall, it was pressed into service for hunting ducks and geese on a nearby beaver pond.


View attachment E Goose 02 - JCW and Boo in Canoe brighter.JPG



My partner and I - and a Certain Retrieving Dog - gave the vessel high marks from late September into early December. It earned its keep and so warranted special treatment. BTW: We used the canoe for handling the decoys and retrieving birds. It was always hauled up beneath a closed tree canopy whilst gunning - so its bright tones were not problematic.


On New Year's Morning, I hauled it out of the woods. You can see here that she has the lines I prefer - a bit of tumblehome in her topsides, a gentle, sweeping sheer, and a bit of punkin' (reverse curve) in her stems. She does have a keel - which is not perfect in beaver ponds. Smooth bottoms can get over submerged logs more readily that keeled bottoms. Nevertheless, she handles beautifully and is nice and light.



View attachment IRC 02 - stbd side.JPG



With no handles or decks at either end, I rigged loops of half-inch manila so we could drag her in and out of the woods.


View attachment IRC 05 Bow.JPG



Here you can see the new seats and yoke. I think I bought them from a Canadian firm - at reasonable prices. All the floor stiffeners are intact - and so the floor is indeed stiff.



View attachment IRC 04 New thwarts.JPG



The recessed decks enclose flotation chambers at each end.


View attachment IRC 07 - Recessed deck.JPG



So, up on the rack she went. I secure my canoes with a single length of 5/16" nylon - and plenty of cleats.



View attachment IRC 08 - On Element.JPG



In just a few minutes she was back at the Boatworks.


View attachment IRC 09 - Back at shop.JPG



Stay tuned....


SJS





 
Part 2 - Intake


Once in the shop, I inspect, measure and record. First, though, I should share my "vision" for this vessel. I will replace aluminum with wood and give her the right hues for our marshes and rivers. I will basically do what I did for Canvasback - my "everyday canoe" that resides on the back of my barn. The rack is the same elevation as that on my Element - to minimize lifting. Canvasback is a bit over 16 feet LOA - and built by Lincoln, if I recall correctly.



View attachment D SM Canoe rack 1.jpg



And, yes, all of my own vessels get red bottoms. This is an homage to the vessels of my youth - when the most common anti-fouling paints were copper-based. I have used a flat red primer - not anti-fouling paint - and have just ordered a custom semi-gloss red for this and future bottoms.



View attachment C Element with Canvasback 3L.jpg



Her length is 15-foot-6-inches and her beam is 36 inches.


View attachment Intake - 1 LOA 15-6.JPG



Here BEFORE weight is 64 pounds.


View attachment Intake - 2 64 pounds.JPG



Although I uncovered this hull ID number later in the process - via careful sanding - I thought I would reveal it now. I will contact the company once this project is done to find out her model and year of manufacture.



View attachment Intake - 3 Hull ID - Indian River Canoe HBU 60119 H 394.JPG



The plastic stem caps are in rough shape - and the eye bolts are well-rusted.



View attachment Intake - 4 end caps and eyes.JPG



Here you can see that the aluminum rails have led a tough life. Although still strong and functional, I will replace them with wood for the quiet and the ability to tweak the sheerline.


View attachment Intake - 5 sweep of gunwales.JPG



Note the unfairness in the curve.


View attachment Intake -6 hard spot.JPG



Demolition began with drilling out the rivets in the stem caps.



View attachment Demo - 1 drilling end cap.JPG



The rusty steel was twisted off with pliers - and the shafts were poked out with a nail set.


View attachment Demo - 2 end cap removed, hook.JPG



More to come.....


SJS



 
Demolition continues....


The rubrails (gunwales) were riveted every 17 inches. I used a large bit to drill off the heads.



View attachment Demo - 3 drilling rubrail rivets.JPG



I pulled the rest of the rivets from inside the hull.


View attachment Demo - 4 pulling rubrail rivets.JPG



Success! Removing all of the rivets took just a half-hour or so.


View attachment Demo - 5 rubrail rivet end.JPG



Here she is with demolition complete. Although I had to remove the yoke for access, I am keeping the seats it whilst I fit the new rails and decks. You can see a deck pattern being fitted at the bow.



View attachment Demo - 6 rubrails and end caps removed.JPG



The interior was in very nice condition. It needed cleaning and sanding before getting new paint. I hand sanded with 120 grit paper, then vacuumed, then wiped with acetone.


View attachment Sanding - paper, acetone and vacuum.JPG



Here is the deck pattern - from quarter-inch plywood.


View attachment Deck - 1 pattern stock.JPG



The decks are the same at both ends. They are Philippine Mahogany and each is carefully fitted by hand.



View attachment Deck - 2 details.JPG


I sealed their undersides with straight epoxy.


View attachment Deck - 3 sealed bottom.JPG



Then painted the undersides.


View attachment Deck - 4 underside painted.JPG



The rails are also Mahogany. Although White Ash is the traditional wood for canoe rails, I use Mahogany because 1) I can get long lengths of clear stock at my local lumber yard and 2) they will be painted. I saw them to 3/4 x 3/4 so they will take curves in both planes. I clamp the rails dry so I can get them "eye sweet" before fastening them.



View attachment Rails - 1 dry-fitting.JPG



The fitting continues.....


SJS



 
Part 3 - The Rails


On the existing vessel, the sheer turns up near each end. This increase in the curvature is known as "sny". I am removing it in favor of a gentler, longer sheer. Although the upswept ends (sny) is traditional in canoes - going back to their birchbark ancestors - there is no real benefit in my experience. The difference is 3/4 inch. So, there will be less "reserve buoyancy" or "windage" depending upon one's druthers. I let the Mahogany run out comfortably - making sure, though, that it does not droop. The excess topsides will be trimmed later in the process.



View attachment Rails - 2 flattening sny.JPG



The new rails will be bedded in 3M 5200 and fastened with s/s panheads. I got square drive because I like the sureness over Phillips heads.


View attachment Rails - 5 5200 and panheads.JPG



Before applying the 5200, I masked the lower edges of the rails to simplify cleanup.


View attachment Rails - 4 masking lower edge.JPG



The rails were fastened every 8 inches along most of their length.


View attachment Rails - 6 screwed every 8 inches.JPG



The deck ends will be permanently fastened only once the new decks are installed. So, this area is clamped but not screwed. The clamps stay in place for about a week - so the 5200 cures thoroughly.



View attachment Rails - 7 bedded and clamped ends.JPG



All the excess 5200 has been wiped away - with lots of paper towels. I try not to have to remove any cured 5200 by managing it while it is still soft and gooey. The excess fibreglass will be sawn and/or ground off after the week-long cure.



View attachment Rails - 8 fastened and wiped.JPG



Part 4 - Paint


The s/s screw heads and aluminum seat brackets got scuff sanded with 150-grit then sprayed with Rustoleum Self-etching Metal Primer.



View attachment Interior - 1 prime metal.JPG



Ready for the next paint....



View attachment Interior - 2 primed metal full.JPG



The bilge area will get some extra protection - a primer before the topcoats.


View attachment Interior - 3 Parker Primer.JPG



All primed.


View attachment Interior - 4 bilge primed.JPG





Continued....


SJS









 
Part 4 - Paint - continues....


The whole interior got its first coat - Parkers Marsh Grass.


View attachment Interior - 5 Parker Marsh Grass - first coat.JPG



After curing overnight by the stove, I flipped her over on the horses. The clamps at the ends are not in the way of the next steps. The keel near its end had suffered significant erosion from dragging.



View attachment Hull - 1 keel erosion.JPG



The stems, too, had suffered their share of insults.


View attachment Hull - 2 stem erosion.JPG



The worn areas got filled with epoxy + milled fibres. The keel got covered with a 3-layer sandwich of 4-ounce cloth. All areas were carefully faired, ground and ultimately sanded with 120-grit paper.


View attachment Hull - 3 faired and sanded stem.JPG



The entire hull got a thorough sanding down to 120-grit - then wiped with acetone. The bottoms of the rails got a sealing coat of Spar Varnish - because it's convenient viz. gravity and to prevent topside paint from getting on it prematurely.


View attachment Hull - 4 spar varnish sealing rubrail underside.JPG



Although I took these photos after taping the waterline, I in fact scribed the waterline with this jig before taping the line.



View attachment Hull - 5 scribing waterline.JPG



A pencil taped to the jig marks the approximate waterline. I make sure the line is sweet when I apply the tape (again, after the marking).


View attachment Hull - 6 scribing waterline - detail.JPG



I rolled on the red primer. It is just the first of what will be 3 coats total.


View attachment Hull - 7 bottom tape and prime.JPG



After curing at least 24 hours, I can remove the tape and place new tape on the red paint so I can contain the topside paint.


View attachment Hull - 8 masking tape removed.JPG



Here's the first coat of topside paint. The new masking tape is pressed onto the fresh red bottom paint gently - so I do not pull the paint up when removing the tape.



View attachment Hull - 9 topsides - first coat.JPG



Starting to look like a duckboat!


SJS







 
Part 4 - Paint - continued


One of my favorites - Pettit 3303. The first coat was brushed on but the second coat was rolled on.



View attachment Hull - 10 Pettit 3303 and roller.JPG



Dried overnight - and de-masked.


View attachment Hull - 11 second coat dried and unmasked.JPG



She'll go rightside up again later today. I'm waiting for the new bottom paint to come in the mail.


Part 5 - Appurtenances


The seats and yoke both warranted some attention. I have not yet touched the seats but did reshape the yoke. As it came from the factory, all of the edges had been rounded over - no doubt via router or shaper. I wanted a bit more comfort for the back of my neck.



View attachment Yoke - 1 full edges.JPG



So, I reshaped it with my drawknife, then sanded and sealed with Cetol Marine. It'll get at least 2 more coats of Cetol.



View attachment Yoke - 2 shaved and Cetol.JPG



The seats do not need re-shaping but should get some sort of protection. I will try Cetol - but working around the nylon webbing will be tricky....


Back to the shop!


SJS



 
What a pleasant surprise when I opened the forum this morning. I'm enjoying this project from the first word and the step-by-step process you're sharing will undoubtedly motivate others to take on similar projects. We all see beautiful results are obtainable and reachable. Thank you so much for taking the additional time to capture the project in pictures and post here with your informative, yet charming, write-ups on the process. This is great stuff!

Eric Patterson
 
Some day I'll do a canoe rehab with class, but since all but one of my canoes spend most of their time on the ground at various remote spots, my rehabs tend to be highly functional and aesthetically suspect.

Two years ago I pulled off a glass repair on the floatation chamber at the bow of Mohawk canoe that sits 3 miles from the trailhead after one of my fishing buddies had an unfortunate incident with an anchor rock. Dr. Sanford would not approve of the rattle can paint applied over 6 hour cured epoxy, but it had to be a one day job at the end of the season--and it's held up better than I thought it would. And we made it out before dark, even on a short day in late September.
 
Jeff~


I heartily approve of your pragmatic approach - when gunning hangs in the balance.


On this very canoe, I applied a patch along the keel in the field. The canoe was already stashed next to the pond for the season - and I had ample temps to allow the epoxy to cure before the next immersion. I didn'r even paint the patch!


And, you'll note my purely functional loop handles - with the ends of the manila taped and not spliced. Both fixes did their jobs during the season. The aesthetic upgrades can happen only when there is time.


All the best,


SJS

 
Good. We won't mention the porcupine chewed seat bracket that broke on too-excited hook set, dumping my fat ass and a canoe full of open fly boxes into the pond directly in front the ranger's cabin, and settting off a full-scale two boat rescue when a by-stander reported I was drowning. (I was actually in water I could stand in.) I have recovered from the embarrassment, and now inspect seat-hardware regularly.
 
Hi Steve -

Just a question. Rather than masking with just masking tape for painting, have you ever used a product such as 3M fine line masking tape? We used this all the time for masking areas that had compound curves. The tape is much easier to tape these areas rather trying to make regular masking tape do the job.

Just asking.

Mark
 
Mark~


There have been times when the fine-line tape would have been very helpful. Because the curves are all so long and gentle on this vessel, I had no problem putting the standard blue Scotch masking tape where it needed to be.


Although I like to have lots of materials & supplies on hand, I have been foiled by rolls of masking tape that have been opened too long. When the tape starts ripping every foot or so, I toss the roll. I had to do so on this project. I used up the good blue Scotch and had to resort to a no-brand roll of white. Luckily, my wife had a new roll of Scotch in the house.


I try to store my rarely used tapes in baggies to prevent this premature failure.


All the best,


SJS





 
Good morning, Jeff et al~


My canoe dumping tale is less dramatic - but I did saturate my first-ever "good camera" - a Minolta101, I believe.


Here is more progress on my current vessel.


Whilst she was still bottom-side-up, I sealed the undersides of the rubrails/gunwales with Spar Varnish.



View attachment Sealing bottom of gunwales.JPG



I followed the next day with paint - Parker's Marsh Grass. Much easier to strike a decent edge between the 2 colors with gravity on my side.



View attachment 1 Sealing bottom of gunwales A.JPG



Then I scribed a chock to hold the hull level once flipped. I padded the chock with scraps of sleeping mat foam. The chock will get screwed (temporarily) to a saw horse. Only a single chock is needed because the work will be fairly light.



View attachment 2 Hull Chock.JPG



I "trimmed" the hull 'glass that stuck up over the rail with a belt sander - with 80-grit. Once flush, I hand-sanded the inner edge to soften it.


View attachment 3 Sanding excess hull glass and decks.JPG



I used a 3/8-inch round-over bit in the router to ease the outer edge of the rubrail - where it'll get the most wear.


View attachment 4 Rounding gunwale upper corner.JPG



Hand-sanding with 80-grit followed.


View attachment 5 Rubrails rounded and sanded.JPG



Now she's ready for her decks.


View attachment 6 Rubrails ready for decks.JPG



Each deck was dry-fitted and then pre-drilled for screws through the rails and into the decks.


View attachment 7 Decks dry-fitted and pre-drilled.JPG



After much indecision, I finally decided to add my customary frippery to the foredeck - a Sleeping Mallard handle/hood ornament on the bow.


Each deck was bedded in epoxy+milled fibres for strength. 3 s/s screws per side pulled everything together. After wiping off the squeeze out, I top-filled with epoxy+fairing compound. The cured epoxy-milled fibres are very hard - so, it's difficult to sand. The fairing compound is, of course, designed to be easily sanded. The screw holes were filled with the lighter mix.



View attachment 8 Foredeck fastened, filled and sealed.JPG



Before sanding the cured epoxy - overnight with the help of the wood stove - I use a scraper to remove the obvious excesses and get a mostly smooth surface. Sanding with 80- and 120- grit follows.


View attachment 9 Cured epoxy scraped.JPG



Almost done for this episode.....


SJS



 
Last edited:
I had approximated the curve on the leading edge of the hood ornament to continue to recurved arc of the stem. I knew that fine-tuning would be needed once it was in place and fully cured.


View attachment 10 Bow handle to stem unfair.JPG



I used my orbital sander with 60-grit to remove the offending wood. I then hand-sanded everything with 80 and 120-grit.



View attachment 11 Bow handle to stem faired and sanded.JPG



Then all raw wood was sealed with straight epoxy - brushed as thin as I could get it to minimize the inevitable sanding.



View attachment 12 Bow handle, stem and decks resealed.JPG



It has been curing overnight. Ultimately, all that nice Mahogany will get covered with one duckboat paint or another.


All the best,


SJS







 
Good morning, All~


The vessel has been finish painted inside and out - although I am still waiting my my bottom paint to arrive in the mail.


I refinished the seats and yoke with Cetol. I wanted both more protection than the single factory coat and a more traditional amber cast. I concentrated on the wood (White Ash) but also brushed the Cetol onto the nylon webbing - figuring that "sealing" the webbing would help it a bit under gunning conditions.



View attachment IRC - thwart with Cetol.jpg



I upgraded to brass hardware (from s/s) for the Old School aesthetics. I despise paying per-piece prices, though, for it locally.


View attachment IRC - brass hardware.JPG



It's worth the effect, though, to my eye.


View attachment sm IRC - yoke with brass hardware.JPG



A bit "yachty" for a fowling vessel - but I enjoy the visual treats.


View attachment sm IRC - seats and yoke.JPG



Off to assemble a pair of low horses for her storage.


All the best,


SJS



 
Steve,

Thanks for sharing the project, I may have to keep my eyes peeled for cheap canoes now.

Have you weight the canoe after the rehab? Just wondering.

Tom
 
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