This past weekend, at an estate sale, I purchased a 17' Grumman. I used to canoe all the time as a kid/teen, but it has been awhile. I remember these canoes being nothing short of a portable reflector oven on sunny days. Any ideas/best practices on how to prevent this? Paint? Boat carpet? Any help would be appreciated.
Had a Grumman…
all my life! 19’ footer currently with a 6 hp outboard on the square transom.
Yes, they can reflect some serious heat. With people and gear in it, it’s not bad at all and I don’t remember heat being noticeable. You could paint the inner hull with non-skid white paint. Certainly not black. There’s also some rubberized deck covering West Marine sells that you could glue down. Personally, try it first and see if your concerns are valid. There’s advantages to having a bare metal boat.
Paint
You only need to paint the floor and an inch or so up the side.Light grey works great and shows little dirt.
The carpet idea is great for keeping the noise down; but it only needs to be a small piece for under your feet and where you’ll be dropping your rapala’s. Dont glue it.Just use it and take it out to dry when your done.
Spray in bedliner
it’s durable and now comes in a bunch of different colors.
My Grumman
When I bought my Grumman 17 foot standard model it had been rarely used & stored in a barn for nearly 20 years.
It had the remnants of a gray, non skid paint in the bilge, which I believe was the original paint from Grumman.
At the time, Osagian canoes was located within easy driving distance of me. I purchased a quart of gray, non skid paint from them, and applied 2 coats of that paint, after having removed the remnants of the old paint, most of which had already flaked off. Worked great. Some people paint the decking on aluminum canoes. I'm not sure that is necessary.
I think white would reflect too much sunlight, and black in the bilge would definitely be a "bad thing".
If you are going to use the Grumman in really cold weather; I suggest you get some close celled foam, cut a piece to insulate your rearend, and another piece to place in the bilge under your feet for insulation. Don't glue them into the boat.
Whatever you do in an attempt to cut down on the noise created by an aluminum canoe is probably not worth the effort. River reading skills & paddling skills will go a long way towards "NOT" ending up in places where the result is a lot of aluminum canoe noise.
With minimal care, you could easily get 30 or 40 years of use out of a Grumman.
BOB
Bed liner
Bedliner is good but you need it on heavy to look good.
you dont need the extra weight,what you need is to cut down on the glare.thats why you want grey on the floor:and why some people paint the front deck.
Even in the middle of summer the boat wont get hot because it is actually reflecting the sunlight back out.After a little while the boat will be the same temp. as the water,so its not the heat but the glare of the sun you need to deal with.