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Wood and canvas paddlers ...

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Jul 31, 2011
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Dodgeville, Wi
I have been wondering for some time how many on this board trip in a wood canvas canoe ( besides Robin ). I take mine all over and have mentioned on other threads how my wood canvas just has a different feel than any other material, but I just can not describe it very well.

Anyway, I have been wondering how well they hold up for you while traveling in the canadian shield - do you take patch material besides duck tape etc, for a trip of 10 days or more. ... I have been thinking of taking my boat on more trips, most of them in the boreal or the BWCA and wanted to know if many of you do as well.

Bob.
 
Can you extend the range to cover wood and dacron? I have three of those. One is too small for tripping (13 feet) and the other (15 feet, Loon Works Duet, Chestnut Chum lineage) is too big. The 14 footer Loon Works Aria is my go to boat for day trips. I don't use it for tripping. Not because of the weight ( its 36 lbs) but because it was deliberatl overthwarted and packs don't fit it well. I do use it sometimes for one nighters near home where I don't have to carry a portage pack. Duct tape is all I need. I simply don't have the skills to do any more repair.

IMG_0655-1-2.jpg


I would investigate putting thwarts elsewhere to make room for canoe packs, but as the boat is of lighweight construction with thinner planks and four thwarts to minimize twisting , it is a FreeStyle teaching boat and day tripper. Still my joy of the fleet.

IMG_0048.jpg


Yes I would trip in a w/c boat in a heartbeat if I could easily portage one in the 50 lb range. In my current condition I seek boats in the 30-35 lb range; and for strength to weight ratio find myself mired in carbon fiber.
 
I did take the Huron out on a weekend trip last year but that is the extent of my wood/canvas tripping so far. This year will include my Chestnut for at least one trip on the same river as last year. I take a tube of ambroid glue and some canvas as well as duct tape. The thought is if need be I can cut a piece of canvas and glue it in behind a tear but I would think of that for only a large tear where duct tape wouldn't fully do the job.

What I have found is, my kevlar boat, when empty, transmits every single movement in the boat, so if Christine twitches in the back I feel it right away and it makes the boat feel unstable. However, in either of the wood boats we have, that doesn't happen at all, the wood absorbs that and also is alot quieter in the water, more stable and more esthetically pleasing for sure.
 
Ok, I will try this post again ... not sure what happend.

So Waterdog, great pics! I appreciate the reply ... what type of Stewart River is that boat - a Pal? It is funny, I was talking to Alex just this afternoon!!

Boy I love those pics man. Have you taken that canoe on many trips? How is it in the canadian shield? I am thinking of taking mine a quick 10 day trip to the BWCA this summer.

Bob.
 
I did take the Huron out on a weekend trip last year but that is the extent of my wood/canvas tripping so far. This year will include my Chestnut for at least one trip on the same river as last year. I take a tube of ambroid glue and some canvas as well as duct tape. The thought is if need be I can cut a piece of canvas and glue it in behind a tear but I would think of that for only a large tear where duct tape wouldn't fully do the job.

What I have found is, my kevlar boat, when empty, transmits every single movement in the boat, so if Christine twitches in the back I feel it right away and it makes the boat feel unstable. However, in either of the wood boats we have, that doesn't happen at all, the wood absorbs that and also is alot quieter in the water, more stable and more esthetically pleasing for sure.


Good point!Some light Kevlar boats flex a lot especially if they are larger..Foam plate on the bottom takes care of the oilcanning, but the sides do twist and empty , they are like riding bucking broncos in waves. My composite tripping boats have carbon in them too to avoid that unpleasantness.

M other issue is that I need to use a removable yoke. Mine has metal clamps on the end..I remember on the other site some removable yoke pictures made entirely of wood.. I do not want any metal clamps on the cherry outwales!
 
YC
You need something like this, the clamping parts have rubber on them to reduce slippage and it protects the wood. I installed the CV pads but don't like them, I have no meat on my shoulders so they cut in pretty hard. This yoke was used on Christines stripper too, I just made the slots longer to fit the wider boat.

I have a carved yoke on the Chestnut but need to get a Teal yoke for it before the season begins. The Huron needed the removable since the seat was close to center.



FinishedYoke.jpg
 
Waterdog
I like the epoxy idea for the bottom, I have considered shellacing for the same purpose. I have canvas though, not Dacron.
 
Mihun09, i'm not sure what i'm looking at on your portage yoke... normally there are pads. yours looks like little hammocks suspended in the wire frame thingies. Is that correct? and if so, i'm assuming they are more comfortable?

I've only ever used the pad-type yoke, and that was on a rented PBW Rapidfire, which didn't weigh much (well, at first... at the end of a 1.5mile portage, with my pack, it was getting heavy.) Normally, if i portage, it's a 50# canoe and i just throw a sweater or life jacket on my shoulders and set the center thwart on that. longest i've done that way was only about 300 yards.
 
When I did a trip 3 years ago my Pal started leaking and I though for sure it was the stem bands. I tighted up the screws a bit with my knife which just ruined the screw heads, then I cover the stem bands with duct tape. Turns out I had a small slice in the canvas in the middle of the canoe, which I found later. I have been using duct tape ever since. I have the canvas, filler and the new plank it needs, just need to get it done.
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Robin,

Than Pal of yours has been a favorite of mine for years. I love the pics you have posted. Do you port that with pads or with a tump?

Bob.
 
I have home made pads attached to the center thwart, I made 2 sets rather than move them from one canoe to another. I keep a set for my Chum which is what I will be tripping with this season. They are pretty comfortable, but the weight walking over the portage is not the problem, it's getting it up on my shoulders that can be the problem.
I have walked my packs over a portage, maybe two trips early in the trip, then came back for the canoe and sat down for a rest before I attempted to pick it up. I have actually lectured the canoe on how it's a team effort here, there is no "ME" in canoe and when I need to hoist that water logged old son of a gun up there, I'm looking for some help, and you know, it works!
That old battered up Pal just seems to jump up off the ground onto my shoulders without so much as a second grunt from me.
(I tell myself this as I'm planning my next trip):rolleyes:
 
Anyway, I have been wondering how well they hold up for you while traveling in the canadian shield - do you take patch material besides duck tape etc, for a trip of 10 days or more.
Bob.

I carry some tape and a few hardware pieces, but if you've got some creative bushcraft skills then some saplings, spruce roots, and tree gum can get you out in a pinch. Look at what it did for this guy...

Robert+Rock+-+Battered+Cedar+Canvas1.jpeg


If anyone's interested, it's from a LIFE Magazine Article - "Strong Man of the North" (1953) available online here. Interesting read but pretty reckless paddling...
 
Bob...glad you like the pics. The boat is a 58lb, 16' Prospector. I only carry a full roll of duct tape, but based on some other comments, I may get some ambroid glue and practice with it and see if it is something I want to carry. I haven't had it North of BWCA yet but wouldn't hesitate to take it. I'm considering a dedicated solo W/C from Alex but I got to figure out where I will store it. I'm out of room. Alternately, I would like to get a 15' Chestnut that is a little shallower (lower shear) for light weight solo's without a big dog for ballast.

Mihun09-I'm a big fan of the epoxy/graphite treatment at the waterline. That seems to be where the brunt of the bruises take place. Shellac should be good too, kind of a sacrificial layer that can be easily touched up between trips.

Murat V- you come up with some great historical stuff. That picture of the Rock paddling that battered canoe....I can hear him talking to the owner now, "don't worry, my brother has lots of tools, its totally fixable"

I like the shape of the stems on Yellowcanoe's red canoe, that's a sharp looking boat.

Regards,

Barry
 
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On that one trip last year we dragged the Huron fully loaded over a beaver dam and all the landings are nice soft granite. I managed to take the paint off down to the filler but that was it, no canvas damage at all and a quick sand and coat of paint fixed it right up.
 
The red canoe is covered in dacron with a marine enamel as the finish coat. Since then a "football " has been scribed on the bottom to the the three inch waterline. And the red removed. Adjoining areas were masked and the "football " painted with spray on Krylon flat white interior/exterior white. Yep. Its two bucks a spray can at your big box home improvement store. If I get scratches I do not even have to sand much. Just enough to make the surface more even. Just spray.

White or off white or natural shellac hides those annoying scratches the best IMO.
 
Yellowcanoe,

How do you remove the paint, sanding? If so, how did you do it without harming the canvas (dacron)?

I ahve been thinking of doing that to my boat for 2 years now, and shellacing the bottom. I am not sure I am that committed to the project however. I love the idea of Shellac, I am not sure how often I must reapply as it evaporates or wears off.

Bob.
 
A couple of years ago I decided to refinish the red canoe and sand it all the way to the fabric. Which I did, wearing a respirator and tyvek suit. An orbital sander and a dust collection system was handy.( the whole world was filled with pink) Sanded till the red became pink.. Dacron does not fuzz like kevlar, so I was not too worried. I can't speak for canvas. I can't advise on shellac longevity. That's where the folks at Wooden Canoe Heritage Association come into play.
They have a forum. More than one of their canoes has been at Assembly with a shellaced bottom..They are pretty.

Hey I found a shellac thread!

http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?9074-Shellac-for-canoe-bottoms&highlight=shellac+bottom
 
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