Anybody in Maine want to give this a little TLC?
https://maine.craigslist.org/boa/d/orono-bell-morningstar-carbonfiber-156/7125176648.html
https://maine.craigslist.org/boa/d/orono-bell-morningstar-carbonfiber-156/7125176648.html
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Happy (Ancient) May Day! 🎀💈💃🏼🧺💐🍴
Bell Morningstar Blackgold, needs gunwales.
- Thread starter bcelect
- Start date
G
Guest
Guest
I would be all over that one if it was closer, and a bit cheaper.
Transporting a canoe with gone gunwales is problematic, even locally. One of the local freebies I picked up had crumble-in-your hands wales, or what little was left of them.
Before picking it up I bought some cheap 1x2’s, soaked them, put them between two sawhorses and hung a bucket of water in the middle. In a couple days they had warped nicely. I brought a couple clamps, a drill and drywall screws and temp/crude screwed them in place for the ride home.
More holes in the sheerline to fill, but it was the only way to safety transport it, and I ended up using those warped 1x2’s to retrieve a couple other derelicts, including one canoe that was nearly split in half from a pin.
Transporting a canoe with gone gunwales is problematic, even locally. One of the local freebies I picked up had crumble-in-your hands wales, or what little was left of them.
Before picking it up I bought some cheap 1x2’s, soaked them, put them between two sawhorses and hung a bucket of water in the middle. In a couple days they had warped nicely. I brought a couple clamps, a drill and drywall screws and temp/crude screwed them in place for the ride home.
More holes in the sheerline to fill, but it was the only way to safety transport it, and I ended up using those warped 1x2’s to retrieve a couple other derelicts, including one canoe that was nearly split in half from a pin.
I'm staying out of this one ! 
It does prove my point though !
If I was closer, as Mike states. I'd be interested. Yes take extra care, as gunnels are more than just pretty wood !
I do have a new set of Bell Aluminum gunnels waiting for the right canoe !
Jim
It does prove my point though !
If I was closer, as Mike states. I'd be interested. Yes take extra care, as gunnels are more than just pretty wood !
I do have a new set of Bell Aluminum gunnels waiting for the right canoe !
Jim
I have a Bell Northwind in Royalex. That boat is way over priced if you ask me.
G
Guest
Guest
Maybe not way overpriced, although the listed $3050 cost seems high. The last Bell catalog I have with the MorningStar lists $2495 in Blackgold, and a 36 lb weight. In the same catalog a Royalex MorningStar is listed at $1095 and 55lbs, and the RX NorthWind at $1195 and 60lbs.
My interest in a BlackGold Morningstar would be to gut it and rebuild it as a dedicated single seat solo with thwarts placed where I wanted them.
I can get it ( within 2 hours of me)but it seems a little high priced. Boat relays are fun. We already have a pocket tripper the Yellowstone tandem.
G
Guest
Guest
As before, I’d be tempted if it were a little cheaper, and a lot closer. I’d want to put real gunwales on it before driving Maine to Maryland, and I have frustratingly tried doing boatwork distant from my shop. That a nope.
YC, got a friend up your way skilled at regunwaling who would be interested in a BG MorningStar? With new gunwales, at my usually used calculation of 66% of MSRP, that is a $1650 canoe. For a woodworker DIYing new wood gunwales there is still some meat on the bone as a flip. The rest of the brightwork, seat frames, truss drops, yoke and thwarts, looks salvageable.
Also the kind of deal where, if you showed the seller ten $100 bills, they might help you load it on your car.
Calculating the number of pool noodles needed to form a faux gunwale.. I think only four are needed at contact points. The boat in the pic still has inwales of some spongy woodlke material which does help as long as they remain intact. Boat Builders are now foregoing outwales in some cases ( Savage River) I can't find the pic of course but we tarp wrapped a Robertson over 100 years old gunwaleless to South Carolina and back. I need the pic though to confirm my aging memory.
Doesn't Doug D need a lightweight soloized tandem? He is not too far the other way..
Doesn't Doug D need a lightweight soloized tandem? He is not too far the other way..
Too short a boat for my tastes, but temptingly close. Surface street close. Fairly obvious where he lives from the street sign in the background, couple blocks from some nice local flatwater.
One thing we know -- Bell used screws!
One thing we know -- Bell used screws!
While it probably was not a good idea to include the street signs I did not notice the first time around.. Google Maps and a nefarious mind could be a bad combo..hope it is chained down. and its on Street view.
