With the Chestnut guide out the door, time to turn my attention to the next project, which in this case is a 16' Evergreen "Willow" needing the rotting gunnels replaced.
So, make some new ones, take notes of the trim locations, remove the old ones, and start fitting. You have to be careful when fitting gunnels to a composite hull to avoid any buckling of the laminate or changing the "width". I put the centre thwart in position as the gunnels were being positioned, then worked slowly to the ends. Fitting the ends of the inner gunnels was the most challenging part due to how they come together and the fact that the joint is fully exposed leaving all to see any poor workmanship. (What looks like a gap here is actually a shadow line)
So, make some new ones, take notes of the trim locations, remove the old ones, and start fitting. You have to be careful when fitting gunnels to a composite hull to avoid any buckling of the laminate or changing the "width". I put the centre thwart in position as the gunnels were being positioned, then worked slowly to the ends. Fitting the ends of the inner gunnels was the most challenging part due to how they come together and the fact that the joint is fully exposed leaving all to see any poor workmanship. (What looks like a gap here is actually a shadow line)
2 comments:
Is this another case of winter storage damage? I watch the snow melt down to the gunnel tips every year. I guess all the rain follows that line, too.
Not so much winter storage damage as year round storage damage. Storage is THE biggest challenge that a canoe has to deal with. I get more work from damage from poor storage than anything else, including hard usage!
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