I have an ancient Mohawk Wee Lassie type. It has no seat, and is meant to be kneeled in against a thwart. At some point I’d like to upgrade, but it’s been ok. The big problem is that the interior is a tan fiberglass. With any amount of movement, fibers from the fiberglass rub off into my clothing. Can/should anything be done about this? Is there a spray coating that I can put on? I was thinking of putting epoxy over everything, but I don’t want to use something that will be damaged by sunlight. Also, I wonder how much weight I’d add by adding a coating. The canoe is nice and light, at about 20 lbs, and I’d like to keep it that way.
I’d also like a seat. I’ve been using a block of wood in the bilge, and this might continue to be the ideal solution going forward. If I were to put in a seat, I think I’d like to hang it, but don’t know if this is practical. I really only want it about 3" off the bottom for fishing.
When I asked the folks at Hemlock what they used on their older FG boats, ( to touch up a Curtis Bluegill) I was told a light grey oil based floor paint. It had held up for 30 years, I was just trying to cover up previous varnish drips.
Wee Lassies never were meant to be paddled kneeling
They did have a separate drop in canoe seat with a back that was not attached to the boat https://www.edscanoe.com/caac.html
If the inside of the boat is shedding glass, my inclination would be to apply a thin coat or two of epoxy, You could then cover it with either floor paint or marine varnish.
A boat that light likely does not have enough side wall strength to safely suspend a seat from the gunwales. I would make my own low seat out of 3" thick minicell plank. Minicell is easily cut and shaped. You just glue pieces together with contact cement to achieve the desired width, then shape the bottom to match the inner contour of the hull at the position at which you want to place the seat. You can then glue it to the hull bottom with contact cement if desired.
By “marine varnish”, do you mean “spar varnish”, such as epiphanes? Is there an advantage to floor paint vs. varnish?
As for forming the seat to the bottom, are there any sources you can recommend for tricks in doing this? Do I just shave a bit, put it in the canoe, and shave some more until it’s close, or is there a better way?
I’ve been using a camping seat on a thick board. I’m thinking an upgrade might be to sew straps to the camping seat, so that I can strap it to a board, foam, or whatever.
@music321 said:
By “marine varnish”, do you mean “spar varnish”, such as epiphanes? Is there an advantage to floor paint vs. varnish?
As for forming the seat to the bottom, are there any sources you can recommend for tricks in doing this? Do I just shave a bit, put it in the canoe, and shave some more until it’s close, or is there a better way?
I’ve been using a camping seat on a thick board. I’m thinking an upgrade might be to sew straps to the camping seat, so that I can strap it to a board, foam, or whatever.
For one, floor paint is cheaper. If you don’t want to go through the learning curve and mess of carving up closed cell minicell yourself, CLC sells a great seat that is held in place with Velcro. Here is one in a Hornbeck Classic 12
You could use any varnish or polyurethane that has UV inhibitors. A spar varnish is formulated in such a way as to be UV resistant and resistant to large changes in temperature and humidity unlike varnishes intended solely for indoor use. So in essence, marine varnish and spar varnish means the same thing. The term “spar” is also sometimes applied to non-varnishes. An example is Helmsman Spar Urethane which is fairly inexpensive and would also be an option
As for whether to use paint or a clear finish, do you like the appearance of your hull bottom? Using epoxy and a clear coat like varnish or urethane will result in a fairly transparent finish. If the bottom of your boat is something that you would just as soon cover up, use an opaque finish like paint.
I have the CLC “Creature Comfort” seat shown above in two kayaks. It has enough flexibility that it would conform to the bottom of a hull pretty well and could be secured in place with heavy duty Velcro. It is comfortable. But it would provide a very low seating height unless you blocked it up on something. Unless you have a canoe with a very low sheer, I think you would find the gunwales in your armpits and might find it uncomfortably low for fishing. It is also fairly pricey and would cost more than making your own seat.
As for minicell you can cut it and shape it in a variety of ways. A band saw is excellent if you have one. I have used coping saws, keyhole saws, fillet knives to rough cut thick plank. Others have used serrated bread knives or electrical reciprocating carving knives. For shaping surform tools and various grades of sandpaper work well. Yes, fine fitting is by trial and error. Rough cut the seat to be slightly taller than you want it to be at the deepest part of the hull and then trim down the bottom at the sides to match the curvature of the hull. You can also contour the top of the seat to match your rear end if you want. It really is not that time consuming but you will generate a lot of minicell “dust” that will want to stick to your clothes, so do the work outside, or somewhere you can easily vacuum up all the dust. Use DAP Weldwood contact cement (flammable variety) to glue minicell panels together and glue it to the hull, but you need to apply at least two coats and preferably three to foam because it soaks up the adhesive.
