1970's Great Canadian Canoe Repair

I have inherited my family's canoe and figure it is time to try to refinish it. It has been sitting in the backyard for a number of years, but began to see some use in the last few years. I figure it is time to try to bring it back to how I remember it as a child. I have been looking at YouTube videos and many different forums for advice on how to proceed. I have begun sanding it in preparation for painting, but discovered some repairs my father did, who knows how long ago. One thwart needs to be repaired/replaced, and so I found a nice ash yoke for easier one-person portaging. Any comments would be appreciated.

 

Call Jason at Noah's Marine in Toronto.

Get a small kit of epoxy and cabosil and milled fiber and glass bubbles. Fix the holes and fair.

Paint with epifanes 2'part epoxy primer and 2'part polyurethane paint. Great stuff.

Get rid of that rusty hardware.

Good work on the yoke. You won't regret it.

 

You can polish old aluminum, up to you. Start in a grit progression. Try 320 and work down to start and then back up to higher numbers to polish.. Just don't cut it too hard; 180 would be pretty gritty; can't tell by the pics where to start...

 

JB , We also inherited a 1960's made in Quebec Canoe needing a paint job and a bit of this and that.

Ours was structurally OK, Fiberglass was good , We sanded lightly and painted with one part marine paint Candy Apple Red .Turned out great , someone then stole it .man we should have left it that dingy faded Orange ....Laugh to self.

If the Fiberglass is not soft in spots I would just sand a bit and paint and replace the things rusted or rotted....done.
Edit:....Used same primer as paint....

 

Thanks for the detailed advice. Started by cleaning the gunwales and getting the old thwarts off. Have to figure out how to attach the one end of the yoke, since the one bracket broke off sometime in the late 70's early 80's. In one spot the sanding went too deep and the sanding overall is patchy. Once I have the gunwales cleaned up and the ash thwart and yoke attached, how involved is cleaning up those cracks, dings, and the deep dip into the fiberglass?

 

Cut the yoke thwart to fit. Screw it in place predrilling. Then use thickened epoxy once you like the location.

For glass repairs, give us a picture of the area one at a time.

 

JB , Our new Canoe by Swift has through bolts on top of the aluminum gunwale attaching all cross members ,stainless bolts and locking nuts ,no need for brackets etc, works well !

 

Here's an update on the refinishing. I'll add a picture of the yoke repair later. I can see all the imperfections but I'm happy with the result. Thanks for the responses, they were a great help.

 

Nice work JB!
Finish won't matter a dam once you're paddling!
Especially in Canadian white water!
Are you in Toronto or on a coast?

 

On the West Coast, but the canoe has followed my family from coast to coast, from paddling through Kejimkujik, Algonquin, Georgian Bay, North Saskatchewan River to Nitinat Lake.

 

It may not be perfect, but it ain't half bad! Looks great.

 

Ah, Georgian Bay, my old stomping grounds.
Honey Harbour to be exact.
Nitinat's nice too!
Cheers

 

Nice job. Would definitely fish and eat poutine in.

 

It looks a lot better than before. Good job!