Stalek canoe restoration

John Konieczny

New Member
Hey All,

I started a restoration of a Stalek canoe from St. Alexis Canada. I had seen it laying under a deck - unprotected - of a customer of mine. I had asked to restore it & being a novice to boat/canoe - building/restoration I am doing this for the experience & nothing else. Someone had tried to repair once before & the level or lack of of experience was apparent. After going over the whole thing I contemplated my attack strategy. I have years of woodworking experience & damage replacement of building structures.

1st was to remove the keel. I did this for two reasons, 1st & most importantly, there is the evidence of water (blackening of the wood) under the epoxy. 2nd was to help it sit flat on the horses.

Next is removal of the gunwales. They also have the dark water spots & definite rot on both ends. I have taken one off already & it broke in half at the darkest of spots. Goes to show you that you do not know the extent of damage until you pull it apart.

Then the decks. Both are in good shape & should be reusable if I do not destroy them trying to remove them. I will make a template just in case.
Once the decks are removed I will check the stems tops for damage. From what I can see now they are fine..but again?

Onto the inner gunwales. They also have various areas of water penetration as well as rotted ends.

The hull..If anyone has suggestions, I will be happy to receive them. There are various areas of air pockets under the fiberglass & I thought I would cut them out & replace..or should the hull be stripped completely? Blobs of epoxy nicely placed around the hull will be addressed if I do not strip it.

The interior is in need of sanding & re coating. No evidence of cracked or broken ribs. The tips are discolored but not rotted.

Any comments are appreciated.

Thank you for reading/looking

Jwk


http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/gg580/clubcruisette/Canoe/P1010081_zpsa6d187d9.jpg
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Hi John,

I recently picked up a Stalek canoe, very similar to yours. Just curious on how the restoration is going for you?

This past weekend I took a closer look at mine and started to put together a game plan for restoring it. I have a little wood rot along with holes through the fiberglass coating. My plan is to sand down the entire canoe and redo the fiberglass. I'm not experienced enough to remove any of the existing wood and replace it. I'd feel much more comfortable with just trying to restore what's already there.

Unfortunately, I do not have any photo's of it to share. I'll try and get some this week.

Any help/advice you have would be very helpful for me.

Thanks,

Jared
 
Hi John and Jared
10 plus years ago I worked for American Traders and we worked with a company in St Alexis Du Monts. There was an old weathered sign on the front of the building that said Stalek Marine.

The pictures look like there canoes looking at the deck seats and details of the canoe.
They didn't go by that name when they sold to us, but I think they sold to people visiting one of the nearby parks.

They used polyester resin for their canoes and made a few models for American Traders.

Good luck with the restoration.

Brad C
 
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