Been talking with a friend about a used Phoenix Vagabond they picked up to retrofit, and with another who acquired a (curious origin?) 18 foot, always solo/never converted, purpose built decked/ruddered canoe of unknown manufacture. That one is a truly unique mystery hull, never seen the like before. Always happy to have a few more brethren afloat in decked canoe oddities.
I’m jonsing to see what they do, and thought back to this extraordinary thread, with contributions from decked canoe paddlers far and wide, wandering into outfitting ideas, rudders, sails and other nuggets of personal preference.
Re-reading this thread kinda made me want to find another old-school decked canoe, or a “Tandem European Style” touring canoe to convert. That conversion is such an enjoyable outfitting adventure, with a tandem-gutted blank canvas presenting the opportunity to put everything just where and how you want it.
Or not. When the weather warms up I need to bring our OT Sockeye and Klepper Kamerad into the shop and repaint the white gel coat bottoms with some white EZ-Poxy. That sequence is actually: outside under-the-hose wet sand/inside tape and paint, outside hose and wet sand and repeat. And repeat
That’s enough wet sanding, washing, taping, painting and repainting to keep me busy for a while.
And I’ll have a friend’s new/very used Sawyer Loon in the shop this spring for some much needed TLC. We’ll probably make a couple custom tapered dry bags for that Loon while we’re at it. That should be enough decked canoe work to hold me for a while.