So I bought a Tranquility that needs a little work - basically gunwale replacement. I will probably refinish while gunwales are off.

So, all in, replacement gunwales from Souris River are $255 - gunwales, rivets, delivery (Wayne passes very close on the spring delivery trip). I'm leaning this way for ease but what are my options for wood gunwales? Seems like I could pick up some ash or even teak and fashion my one since I have the tools, but I'm not finding good stuff online for wood gunwales on a kevlar canoe. That could be a message. Are they just two strips sandwiched around kevlar and does the raw and rough kevlar edge sit just below the wood? Would it look hokey with the plastic ends?





And then I have to decide on spar varnish or epoxy. Wanting to do it this spring may tip for spar since epoxy seems more temperature sensitive, but a warm two days probably solves that.

Bigger question, do people try to save the decals or just get rid of them and either start over or go naked? Wayne will give me the SR logo decals. Just trying to figure it out.

And does anyone refinish interior? I plan to remove seats and and wood thwarts and refinish those with spar, but seems I should just scrub interior.

I appreciate any advice. I want easy - too many other projects and too little time (too old I mean) to stretch this out much.

Wood would be neat but not as quick and easy. If you're having trouble finding wood rails, you can have them shipped from Ed's Canoes

I've used these "knock down kits" before. They have a dado on one piece that the hull edge fits into so it doesn't look like a sandwich on top. Get good stainless screws and wax them when putting in. I would not put plastic (SR end caps I believe are kevlar) end caps on. So making wood deck plates takes more time.
The aluminum rails will be quicker and easier. Stagger your new holes away from previous holes.
If you can get new stickers, I would remove the old ones with a hot air gun before refinishing. SR canoes refinish nicely with epoxy. That would be my choice if you can get the right weather. I have sparred some interiors but usually I just clean them up well. Sometimes you have to scrub pretty hard to get off the water scaling.

putting on the new rails

Thanks. I thought the wood rails - milling my own - would cost significantly less, but I don't think Ed's Canoe does that. And a lot of time.

Still mulling.

If doing wood gunwales you'll probably want a shallow rabbet on the outwale to to cover the raw kevlar edge. Ash is the standard. Rot is the worry. Before installing on the boat be sure to coat the wood where it will contact the hull with spar or epoxy to protect it from the water that will intrude and get trapped.

Depending on your lumber sources it can be hard to find lengths that long enough and have nice grain. The other option is scarfing shorter pieces together; which is easier than it sounds. There are multiple methods to employ depending on equipment available and what you're comfortable with.

Like Cowdoc said you'll need to make wood decks if doing wood gunwales. Not that big of a deal. You can go as basic or fancy as you want.

What condition is the outside of the hull? Just the regular scratches? If so I'd either not worry about it or give a scuff sanding and a few coats of spar varnish. Epoxy is sensitive to UV so even if you epoxy the hull you should put spar over the top. Skip the epoxy and just use the spar unless it's really bad.

Decals are your call. They don't matter to me so I'd just remove them.

I normally wouldn't touch the inside unless there was a reason for it (damage that needed to be fixed) but with an epoxy built SR a scuff sanding followed by a couple coats of spar wouldn't hurt and would spiff it up.

Alan

just a couple things. I replaced the gunwales on my Bell with cherry wood from Northwest in St Paul. I got lots of good advice and one of the best was to drill one inch holes on my wood clamps so they fit tight over the rounded wood.


a problem I had was bending the strips to match the top edge of the hull.i wet the strips of cherry over night but still could not get a bend to match without really stressing the wood.the hull edge was about 1/2 inch over along two feet or so in the center.i cut that down with a razor knife.


the fellow at Northwest suggested I cut a lip along the wood for a match but my skills are not that good.last is the nose cap I had made. I watched a YouTube where a guy did lots of work making angle cuts on the ends but once again that was a bit much for me.
a local metalsmith made these for me.it's getting hard to lift the canoe on my knees and flip it up so I keep the bow on the ground turned over and walk up the gunwales to get the carry bar on my shoulders.

Last year when me & a buddy redid the gunwales on my Spirit II I sourced the cherry thru one of his contacts who has a cabinet shop. We used 3/4" square stock and joined the pieces using a 1:8 scarf joint.

I also got decks from Noah's Marine

Before:




After:


Edit: The cherry was significantly more expensive than if I had got a knockdown kit, however I had a particular look in mind that I'm very happy to say I was able to achieve.

Northwest Canoe is worth a visit. The owner Dennis is a wealth of information and has some quality varnish and other materials that will help your project renovation. I've used his stuff to fix my SR Q17 when needed.

I've also tended to strip off old decals and affix my own when I'm ready. Just a thought.

quote mirth: "Last year when me & a buddy redid the gunwales on my Spirit II I sourced the cherry thru one of his contacts who has a cabinet shop. We used 3/4" square stock and joined the pieces using a 1:8 scarf joint.


I also got decks from Noah's Marine


Before:




After:


Edit: The cherry was significantly more expensive than if I had got a knockdown kit, however I had a particular look in mind that I'm very happy to say I was able to achieve. "

Did you mill your final scarfed pieces or just use a round over bit on a router to knock the corners off? Good job on that boat. The Noahs link is handy too.....I know where to get future decks.

Wonderful examples. I am beginning to think the savings of diy wood over aluminum is probably 20-40 hours of my time.

On finish, one would be fine with spar but the other has some deeper scrapes, plus I need to repair flotation tanks, do I'm already into epoxy. I still wonder with several weeks a year of use and stored indoors between, how big of problem is the UV.

I will add that I refinished a Bell Magic, and I removed the Piragis decals, registration numbers, etc, but left the original Bell decals. One thing to consider is that UV exposure had darkened the Kevlar, so removing the decals left a "shadow" that is still quite apparent. I am hoping it darkens with age, we shall see.

quote cowdoc: "Did you mill your final scarfed pieces or just use a round over bit on a router to knock the corners off? Good job on that boat. The Noahs link is handy too.....I know where to get future decks."

Hey Cowdoc,

My buddy brought the final pieces back to the cabinet shop and had them mill the bullnose. Wanted to run a router around the inwales but we were concerned about nicking the screws and the transition from the inwales to the decks. Ultimately left the inwales square and for the most part I haven't noticed them. Same friend also suggested taking a sheet of 80 grit and running it shoeshine-style against the sharp corner.

The cherry has taken on a nice deep hue from its time in the sun last summer. I think its a perfect compliment to the green gelcoat.