Got an old canoe today

I picked up an old girl in rough shape.
Wondering about how to fix the keel on this old gal.
It's pretty dark and moldy in there. The wood is exposed and is rotten.
What is the best course of action?

 

Is that a wood core/insert for stiffening, or is the whole canoe cored in wood? Can you post photos of the inside?

 

Here's the inside.

http://i.imgur.com/mlAYBIl.jpg

 

Take the wood out, and replace with new. You can use pine. It looks like the wood was added later to reinforce the bottom.

 

Thanks for the reply.
Would it be best to remove all the old fiberglass in the area?
What's the best way to rebuild and reshape that keel?
Can I just put fiberglass over the new wood?

 

You will have to grind the gelcoat and maybe about two inches on either side of the keel. The inside needs to be ground clean too. They seem to have simply poured resin from the inside to hold the wood in place. The inside should have some fiberglass laminated to seal and reinforce the area. You can repair it with polyester resin and mat. The repair should be about the same thickness as the original.