# Wood strip canoe repairs



## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

I picked up this cedar strip canoe last week, my girlfriend and I have talked about getting a canoe for ages. Went out for its first trip last Saturday, it paddles great, with a very small leak at the back. I'm planning on replacing the keel - the rest of it seems in good enough shape, but the exterior keel has lost its varnish, and started to dry rot and is looking pretty junky. I think the leak is coming from one of it's anchoring bolts. I'm considering treating it down with "git rot" epoxy to firm up the keel until I can properly tackle the job (transporting a 15' long strip of wood to my cottage is going to be fun), and giving the whole thing a mild sanding and revarnish. Reading up on canoe repair on the internet make it seem like a bit of a arcane art, but I'm just hoping to tune it up a bit and keep it afloat for a while to come.

Was wondering if anyone had any advice or thoughts, cheers!


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

"I'm considering treating it down with "git rot" epoxy to firm up the keel ..."
If epoxy can't fix it, it ain't worth fixin' !


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

Info for you

Build your own Cedar Strip Canoe
Canoe Repair


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Keep us up to date on the repairs, Rob.

Canoeing always seem to me to be a civilised way to get on the water...


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## flockshot (Mar 15, 2012)

I like West System epoxy and it solved many wood rot problems for me. Just offering another choice.

Once on the river trip here in Michigan I had to fix a keel leak with Crisco. It worked great till I could get home.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

You never mentioned fiberglass. All of the cedar strip boats/canoes I've seen, or read about, were all covered with fiberglass and epoxy. That one wasn't? If it was me, I'd probably just put the GitRot to it, then fiberglass and epoxy.


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

JOAT said:


> You never mentioned fiberglass. All of the cedar strip boats/canoes I've seen, or read about, were all covered with fiberglass and epoxy. That one wasn't? If it was me, I'd probably just put the GitRot to it, then fiberglass and epoxy.


It's covered in fiberglass, but then the keel strip sits on top of this, which apparently is common for them, and a somewhat controversial part of wooden canoe anatomy - I think after seeing this, I'm in the "no keel" side, but it's what I've got, so I'm going to have to run with it. 

I've considered running a strip of fiberglass down the center of the keel after I GitRot it, putting a coat of epoxy on that, then varnishing the heck out of it.

At some point I'll have to bring up a 14' board of ash and a tablesaw (or circular saw and a guide), so I can rip off a new keel, but I have a feeling it will be larger canoe surgery when I take the keel off.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

MAFoElffen said:


> Info for you
> 
> Build your own Cedar Strip Canoe
> Canoe Repair


Thanks very much for posting that very nice link, I can see that the constructor of both the Canoe as well as, the Page on how he did it, that he went as far as he could to show very nice details, myself, I would like to make one. NGM


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Keep us posted on what you come up with for repairs. Canoes are great except for waterskiing.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Hey Rob; you likely are already aware that there are pitfalls in the compatibility of polyester resins (fibreglass) and most epoxies. Please confirm with your supplier that you have compatible products! 
We had a conversation earlier about S1...it for sure is safe to use under polyester.
The other potential problem down the road is 'contaminating the surface with varnish; that'll be a nightmare should you ever need to do a fibreglass repair!
I'm under the impression that acrylic coatings are the preferred protective coating :
FIBERGLASS PROTECTIVE COATING : Rainbow Tech

"Binders

Another component in polymer paints is the binder.

Binders are the chemical compounds that cause the pigment particles to bind to each other. The binder is typically a plastic including resins such as acrylics, polyurethanes, polyesters, melamine resins, epoxy, or oil.

All of the coatings above work well with metal or wood. Only the bold faced types (above) work well on fiberglass.

FRP is different because of it's typical uses of Fiberglass (FRP) and the additional protection specific types of FRP require. Oil, melamine, and acrylics have too many disadvantages to be effecively used on FRP.
How to Paint Fiberglass
_
"Paints for FRP should not be oil based and melamine is not durable enough, to make a good coating. Acrylics, polyurethanes, polyesters, and epoxy are best. Note that the pigment in epoxy paint protects it from ultraviolet light. In matter of fact the worst thing for epoxy is direct exposure to sunlight without some sort of protective coating."_
Being as how the boat's clearcoated, UV protection is the objective of any top coating.
Cheers,
-Dan


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Oops...the 'Bold Face' labelling didn't come out...but it _is_ at the link.
After reading that piece I realized that the potential for incompatibilities is even _worse _than I realized, Rob.


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Thanks for the link Dan!

I am aware there incompatibility problems to be had.... However, I don't know what kind of resin was used originally, so I'm kind of shooting in the dark. I'm also not terribly experienced with epoxies or paints, that link was handy!

I'm using epifanes "Phenolic alkyd varnish", which is often used over epoxy.. I'm guessing there'll be no problem using this over GitRot, as Epifanes is a standard varnish for wooden canoe builders. I'm not sure if it will be compatible with the varnish that's on the canoe though. I'm going to put a little on and see if it sticks or flakes off, and go from there.

I'm on the fence, now I'm leaning slightly towards replacing the keel instead of saving it, as it's definitely the more legit way to solve the problem, instead of throwing good epoxy at bad wood. Hrm. Maybe I'll just slap some varnish on it in the meantime.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Ahhhh, for the good ol' days of turps, and linseed oil based paint...


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

DaninVan said:


> Ahhhh, for the good ol' days of turps, and linseed oil based paint...


Weren't those good old days also the days when lead was a primary paint product? 

I'm pretty excited to try Epifanes, it's tung oil based, pretty good stuff from what I've read. And on sale at the local boat supply store I found. Score! :nhl_checking:


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

There`s still `lead in the pencil`; must have gotten it from the paint...


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

DaninVan said:


> Ahhhh, for the good ol' days of turps, and linseed oil based paint...


How about water cleanup instead? 
Paint (Dave Carnell on Latex Paint) Repost
Latex Paint for Boats
Duckworks 
There's more out there, but I figured this was enough to start with. :laugh:


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

bobbotron said:


> It's covered in fiberglass, but then the keel strip sits on top of this, which apparently is common for them, and a somewhat controversial part of wooden canoe anatomy - I think after seeing this, I'm in the "no keel" side, but it's what I've got, so I'm going to have to run with it.


Ah, now I remember. Yes, it is common, however, it is also a general practice to put some quality sealer under it - to prevent leaks. Don't recall a good sealer at the moment, but for the quick and dirty boat builds in WoodenBoat every year, I think it is 3-M brand. If it's good enough to hold a plywood boat together, should be fine under a canoe keel.

Ah, SikaFlex. http://www.seadogboats.com/news/sikaflex.shtml Do a quick search for quick and dirty boatbuilding to see some of the 'unique' boats made in various contests. Interesting.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

JOAT said:


> How about water cleanup instead?
> Paint (Dave Carnell on Latex Paint) Repost
> Latex Paint for Boats
> Duckworks
> There's more out there, but I figured this was enough to start with. :laugh:


What?! You don't like the smell of turpentine? :lol:


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Thanks for the info again guys! I didn't think about water based, I figured I needed the real strength for this. If I hadn't already bought oil based, I'd get some of that stuff.

Thanks - when I get around to replacing the keel, I'll use a sealer like that. I hear you put it near the screw holes? I'm starting to convince myself it wont be that crazy to strap a 14' board to the top of my car for transit, maybe this will be a late September project.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

bobbotron said:


> I'll use a sealer like that. I hear you put it near the screw holes?


I suppose at just the screw holes would work. But, me being me, I would it put on the entire keel, then when it was screwed/bolted down, I'd clean off the excess that spurts out. I don't know if a multiple part keel would work or not, probably; but never looked for information on that, as I don't have a canoe for one thing.


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

JOAT said:


> I suppose at just the screw holes would work. But, me being me, I would it put on the entire keel, then when it was screwed/bolted down, I'd clean off the excess that spurts out. I don't know if a multiple part keel would work or not, probably; but never looked for information on that, as I don't have a canoe for one thing.


Good idea about sealing the whole thing!


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## Dan11 (Oct 29, 2011)

Latex paints work good but you have to let them dry for at least seven days before putting in water. They use spar varnish over fiberglass for UV protection.


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