Inwales

The strip'n'glass boat that I cracked up back in May is "over the hump" toward getting back on the water. Glass has been removed & replaced inside & out, sanding & varnishing are done. I decided it was time to replaced the thwarts, gunnels, & seat, as they're showing that black moldy look in a few too many places.

I couldn't find gunnel stock long enough locally, so I'm looking at scarfing 2 pieces together for each of the 4 rail parts. That's not a big deal -- been there, done that. But I'm planning to scupper the inwales, and am thinking that cutting the scuppers through the scarf joints is not a good idea. I could be wrong on this -- does it matter?

Other option would be to make the inwales from three pieces, with two scarf joints, and only scupper the midsection. That might look funny, but would serve the intended drainage purpose. It would also put the scarf joints in a more curved area of the sheer line, which presumably adds strain to the scarf. I don't know if that matters, either.

Could cut the scarf on the more horizontal plane, rather than the vertical, but these would still have scuppers cut through them, presumably weakening the joints.

Any ideas/comments/suggestions are welcome!

 

Paul,

I decided to reply and then realized I probably wouldn't help much.

With that said, on my 2ed and current stripper, I also scarfed the rails and scuppered the inside rails. Yes, the scarf gets cut, but stagger the scarfs (one in each of the 4 "corners") and mechanically fasten both sides of the rail (either side of the scupper that cuts the rail) to both the hull and outer rail.

I also use/like vertical scarfs, they just seem "right". Maybe I like them because when putting in screws, the screw goes through both halfs of the scarf. ??

The 2ed boat has made several BW trips without incident, though we don't abuse the canoes either.

If I was making a river canoe I would probably not scarf the rails and certainly wouldn't scupper them.

Dan

 

I'm not much help either but,

Would it be possible to not scupper the spliced inwales but use spacers instead?

 

Spacers are an interesting thought... Just glue 'em on at the proper intervals. And if one spacer just happens to be glued onto the spot where the scarf runs out of the inwale, all the better. Good thought! Thanks!