Saving a Stowe 15' Canoe

Advice
#1
-- Last Updated: Jun-08-14 2:27 PM EST --

My son and I would like to save this 15 foot Stowe Vt canoe.
My concerns are we have never done this before and want to make sure we are focused on the right things before proceeding.
Things I know we need to do are....

Woodwork...
Replace the inner and outer gunwales.
Replace the bow and stern decks.
Replace the center thwart.
The seats look and feel sound so a sanding and revarnishing is all we plan for those.

Fiberglass...
I would like to recoat the entire inside and outside, but not sure exactly what to use for this.
I would like to reinforce the entire length of the centerline under the canoe since that is where I see most of the wear on the exterior.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Serial number on canoe is SWE53523A 585

#2

can you post a good set of photos ??

– Last Updated: Jun-09-14 11:40 AM EST –

..... the thin interior ribs , how do they look to you , any broken or fully cracked across the width , do you notice any seperations of the ribs from the skin ??

The resin thickened area of the floor , is it seperating anywhere (delaminating) , notice any opaque larger whitish spots in it or is it uniformly still clear , other than normal surface scratches ??

Trim woodwork (gunnels , decks , seats and hangers) are pretty straight forward jobs .

Exterior prep , filler and fairing and posibly some resin (and cloth if req. for some repairs) is a bit stickier (pun intended) but can be managed by a 1st timer if not in a hurry .

Re-gelcoating on exterior is difficult to achieve that smooth glosssed look on any larger area w/o proper spray equip. , temp. and thinners . But if that perect look isn't critical , you can do it with progressive sandings to finer and finer wet sand grades . The gelcoat is best exterior finish by far regardless the gloss achieved ... even a 220 grit sanded mat finish gelcoat is still very hard and very abrasive resistent and cleans up well with soap and water .

I'd avoid the notion to use paint on the hulls exterior .

#3

Thanks pilotwingz
I will try again tonight to post some pictures.

The slats inside looked good. None broken. Just a bit rough. II plan on sanding them down and re coat them.



Thanks

#4

Recent thread on discussion forum:

– Last Updated: Jun-09-14 6:03 PM EST –

http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=chat&tid=1705010

You could try a PM to wccanoe for tips and/or advice.

#5

I looked a bit closer.
There are some cloudy areas on the inside bottom. Rather larger areas. I’m assuming this is bad and probably not restorable easily.

#6

Thanks
E-mail sent

#7

it may not be bad …
… I had ask that question thinking about moisture that may have gotten between the interior hull floor side and the cloth/resin that was appled over it … perhaps from bottom damage/wear you mentioned .



Your canoe has bow and stern stems , and a keel made of wood doesn’t it (they show on exterior) . Do they need replacing ??