Sundance Cedar Stripper Refurbishment

[Dave Seto]

In my defense, I was left without adult supervision. I (we?) have purchased a vintage cedar stripper.

The seller said it was made sometime in the late 1970's by Sundance Canoes from Gravenhurst Ontario. It has been sitting in a garage for about 25 years, rarely unused, but it does still need some love.

Legend has it that Sundance was Ted Moore's first canoe building company before starting Bear Mountain boats. There's a decal, but no hull or serial number plate that I can find.

The outwale at the stern needs repair - i assume some sort of scarf might do, but I would appreciate any ideas and guidance beyond what I can see in the forum already.

After a wash-down, there are a couple of places along the waterline that are dark, so I suspect the cedar has been moistened, meaning that the epoxy nees repair.

I won't start a flame fest about keels pro/con but the original keel is crusty and needs to come off, and a new keel seems unlikely to appear, the nless it oil cans without one.

One stem band is missing, but there's a handy strip of replacement brass on the keel.

Overall quite happy to have a project boat before we take the big leap into a full build from scratch.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Welcome to the forum. I'm not versed in strip canoe construction or repair, but I think you'll find plenty of help here.
Following with interest.....

 

[Gamma1214]

I'm not a repair guy, I just (try to) fix what I break but, if that's as bad as the damage gets, I'd say that you're in pretty good shape.

Can you see how the outwale is attached? (Is it just glued or are there screws visible?)

I think I'd put a patch over the area that looks like it's started to rot. Maybe fill the void with epoxy (make sure it's dry first), then lay a patch over it and wet it out (rough up the hull well before you start).

As for oil canning without the keel: I assume that the keel is screwed on like the stem band was? If so, maybe take it off, cover all holes with duct tape (including those from the missing stem & that rotted area at waterline) and throw it in the water. You'll quickly find out it if oil cans. If it does, I'd think that you can still leave the keel off and salvage the brass for the stem band. Just rough up the football & add a layer of s-glass to it. (you could use e-glass if you like but the s-glass is more abrasion resistant. Admittedly, you may treat your toys more gently than I do)

 

[Dave Seto]

I'm not a repair guy, I just (try to) fix what I break but, if that's as bad as the damage gets, I'd say that you're in pretty good shape.

Can you see how the outwale is attached? (Is it just glued or are there screws visible?)

I think I'd put a patch over the area that looks like it's started to rot. Maybe fill the void with epoxy (make sure it's dry first), then lay a patch over it and wet it out (rough up the hull well before you start).

As for oil canning without the keel: I assume that the keel is screwed on like the stem band was? If so, maybe take it off, cover all holes with duct tape (including those from the missing stem & that rotted area at waterline) and throw it in the water. You'll quickly find out it if oil cans. If it does, I'd think that you can still leave the keel off and salvage the brass for the stem band. Just rough up the football & add a layer of s-glass to it. (you could use e-glass if you like but the s-glass is more abrasion resistant. Admittedly, you may treat your toys more gently than I do)

Thanks for the insights.

The outwale is screwed to the scuppered inwale through the hull. However, the last 2 or 3 screws at the rear, are torn out through the top of the hull, so the gunwales can be wiggled up and down. I suspect that is what led to the cracks. I planned to patch the torn out holee and scarf about 3 ft of new outwale, to replace the cracked section. l wondered about also applying a bead of epoxy to secure the gunwales, even with the screws put back in.

My overall goal is just enough restoration to get close to original condition, so that we can have a decent boat to paddle while we build our first one from scratch .

 

[Robin]

I won't start a flame fest about keels pro/con but the original keel is crusty and needs to come off, and a new keel seems unlikely to appear, the nless it oil cans without one.

I have never worked on a stripper but I have restored quite a few non wood and wood canvas canoes. I agree, if you can avoid a keel all the better imo.
Can you post a picture of the entire canoe, kinda curious as to what it looks like. Thanks

 

[Dave Seto]

Hi Robin,

This is the boat. You can see that the keel line is pretty flat, and there's only slight / moderate recurve on the bow and stern.

That is why I think it's likely based on a "Peterborough" model, or a similar design

Sundance Canoes seems to have offered only 1 design in three sizes, but I am not sure what they called it, if anything.

 

[Dave Seto]

The previous owner may have "run out of water" I think is the expression?

There is a pale streak of delamination about 2 ft long both inside and out , near the bilge turn, and another small one that has a star pattern crack.

I am guessing that these need to be cut out, then patched with fresh glass and resin, as I have seen in @dogbrain post on repairs.

Any tips before I begin will be gratefully received.

 

[Gamma1214]

The little starburst in the first picture, I think I'd just overlay a patch without cutting it out. Is there any sign of impact on the exterior?

The second, if there's a long strip that has come loose (what it looks like in the picture), I think I'd probably cut out the delaminated glass & lay in a patch. Probably overlaying the hull around it a few inches & feathering it in.

That last one looks like it might have been a low spot on the hull that had an air pocket trapped when it was built (I've done that). Given that it's not large (and assuming that the glass isn't "mushy" above it), I guess you could go one of 3 ways: If it doesn't bother you aesthetically, leave it be. If it does, you could try using a hypodermic needle (available at Tractor Supply & Rural King here, probably Canadian Tire up there) and injecting some resin into the void.

You will probably have to drill a (very) small hole at one end of the void to let the air out and then fill it from the other. I've had some success with this but there's often still a (very) small void when I'm done.

Or you can cut it out & patch it but you'll probably have to build up the area to fill the void. You can probably do that with a scrap of glass as I did on my Raven or you could try filling it with thickened epoxy before patching. You might even be able to work enough epoxy through the patch to fill the void but that's sketchy IMO.