Bell Flashfire

[Otter]

Hello All,

I just picked up a '93 Flashfire and thought I'd throw up a few photos here. The woman I bought it from said her mother got it new in '94 and it looks like she used it well but took care of it. She actually gave me the receipt that her mother kept when she bought it from Canoe Country in Hemlock, NY.

The seat needs new cane, I'll probably replace the cane with woven webbing. The gelcoat is a bit foggy, and I plan to give it a light buffing and leave it wherever that gets me.

The only real issue is that the top edge of the stems have some damage. Looks like someone replaced the decks and I wonder if they had some damage that caused the issue in the stems. I was just going to leave well enough alone since I don't think anything negative will happen because of the chips in the hull, but I would love to hear what folks think.

Anyway, I cleaned the boat up today as it had clearly sat in a rafter for some time, and I think it's looking pretty good. Any thoughts are welcome.

 

[Gamma1214]

Nice find. I don't think I'd get overly concerned about the stems either. Oil or urethane them to keep them waterproof & paddle the crap out of it.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Looking at the photos, my guess is that the original owner probably had a habit of setting one stem on the ground with the other on the rear rack before repositioning to slide it into place when loading on the vehicle. That's something I do with heavier canoes, and I could envision an older and maybe frail person doing that a lot even with a lightweight solo. We'd hope that more care would be taken to protect the stem, but....stuff happens.

I'm inclined to say I would simply refresh the finish on the wood, repair or replace the seat, and go paddling. That little spot of damage is of little importance. If I was looking for a winter project, I might clean up the ragged edge on that stem as well as I could without getting too involved, but that's about it.

That's a really nice boat. Enjoy!

 

[Otter]

Nice find. I don't think I'd get overly concerned about the stems either. Oil or urethane them to keep them waterproof & paddle the crap out of it.

Looking at the photos, my guess is that the original owner probably had a habit of setting one stem on the ground with the other on the rear rack before repositioning to slide it into place when loading on the vehicle. That's something I do with heavier canoes, and I could envision an older and maybe frail person doing that a lot even with a lightweight solo. We'd hope that more care would be taken to protect the stem, but....stuff happens.

I'm inclined to say I would simply refresh the finish on the wood, repair or replace the seat, and go paddling. That little spot of damage is of little importance. If I was looking for a winter project, I might clean up the ragged edge on that stem as well as I could without getting too involved, but that's about it.

That's a really nice boat. Enjoy!

That was what I thought as well, probably loading it on the car by resting it on the stems. It's nothing too bad, so I'm not concerned.

As you guys say, my plan is to work on the seat, sand and oil the wood, and not much else. Oh, the thwarts were rotted at the bolts, so the ones you see in the photos are just temporary ones I carved last night to throw in. I'll get something better together for those as well, but no real rush there either.