The welcoming messages I have received so far have been more numerous than what I have received from most of the other sites that I frequent. I know that when I see a newbie on the sites I visit often.....I don't give out a welcome....lol.
I've been doing a lot of reading these past few weeks and I have learned a lot from a whole bunch of different sites. I know now that my canoe was made during the era of canvas canoes. Since it has larger planks of cedar, small gaps between the planks, nail heads, cracks etc, I have decided to paint over the fiberglass job that I will be giving it. I even did some reading on the installation and use of a router. I have a nice router but have not used it yet. I think I will have to use it in order to make a few parts for my canoe. I've also been doing a lot of reading about glues, fiberglassing, paddle making and a bunch of other stuff concerning canoeing.
I'm having a real hard time finding materials to restore the canoe. Since I happened to go to Quebec City a couple of weeks ago, I did buy some epoxy resin (ratio 2 to 1) and some fiberglass cloth 60 inches wide for a very decent price (200 dollars). Up here where I live, I got estimates up to 5 times that amount. I want to use 3/4 inch (2 of them) marine grade plywood but not available in my region. I'm searching for some half round aluminum or brass 1/2 inch wide trim to protect the ends of the canoe. I should be able to find some hardwood for the front deck and I may even add 2 small decks and a transom reinforcer at the rear of my square back canoe to replace the ugly angle iron that was installed by the manufacturer or somebody else in the past.
I am a bit disappointed in the quality of construction of the Picard cedar/canvas canoe. However the inside still looks good. I'm at the stage where I am filling in the cracks and gaps with plastic wood (1/2 done) and then I will start sanding.
I was given a piece of 6" by 5" piece of lumber that is about 4 feet long. I plan to whittle it down so that it will fit snug into the prow of the canoe. I will glue it into place in order to strengthen the prow which I find to be too weak to my liking. There is not much material for the outside planks that meet at the prow of the canoe.
As you can probably see, I am still unfamiliar with the names of the various parts of a canoe even though I have been using them most of my life.
Anyway, I did post a message asking for help or opinions on what to do with my canoe. The info that I have gleaned through the internet has answered a lot of the questions that have been trotting in my head.
