I have a Northstar Northwind 17: It’s a former outfitter boat, and as such has the seats secured to the hull via aluminum angle that is riveted to the hull; 4 rivets per piece of angle.

So in May we had a rivet blowout in Quetico; the front seat was missing 4 of 8 rivets and any weight would have pulled the rest out.

We did some Borealengineering, and some 3” cut rounds of spruce about 7” long, wedged under the seat, did the trick and we were back in business.

But once home it needed repair…thought I would share what I have done so far.

First order of business was to patch and repair the spots where the rivets were. I drilled out the rivets and removed the seats and aluminum supports.

I had fiberglass cloth, vinylester resin & hardener and some kevlar/carbon fiber cloth.

Taped and sanded to prep; cut cloth to size and mixed the resin.

The four patches all lined up with foam ribs; the inside ones are about double the size of the exterior ones.

I did one layer of carbon fiber/kevlar cloth and two of fiberglass on the inside; on the outside it is the CF/Kevlar cloth with one layer of fiberglass. I found that I needed to sand down some rough edges afterwards and put one more layer of resin on top.

Looks pretty darn good - I am pleased - and the spots are stronger than new by a wide margin.

The hull is repaired, but some of you my have noticed that my canoe currently has no seats............

Tip of the hat!! Looks really nice.

Nice repair, better than new!

Credit where credit is due - I learned everything from Arcola, who is a Pro. Thanks amigo!

Final step is the seating. I will either:

Hang the seats using trusses from Northstar (they way they build them for the consumer market). I have the trusses in-hand. However - even with the full-length drops, the seats are going to end up about 1.25” higher than their original placement. Perhaps they make outfitter boats with lower seating for greater stability for the rental crowd. Don’t know, but this does give me pause as I am not excited about changing seat height.

or

Drill & rivet aluminum angle - much the same way the boat was made.
However: A core design flaw here is that the aluminum 1”x1”x1/8" angle is very rigid and of course is at a 90 degree angle. But the correct angle for the slanted sides of the canoe and the curved seats is more like ~105 degrees. So the 90 degree angle is effectively & permanently torquing the side of hull & stressing the rivets once the seats are installed.
Might use 1/16 aluminum angle instead (Wenonah uses this) as it will likely flex an appropriate amount.

or

Use minicell foam seats. This saves about 2.5# on the carry weight, and they are more comfortable than wood by far.

Oh my god that looks so freaking great! You did an awesome job! I love how repaired canoes look and patchwork gives it more character and a story. Job well done! Good luck on the seats and let us see it upon completion.

PS) Don't be afraid to call Bear at Northstar and ask him advice. He has helped me tremendously on my bottom re-coat and buffing out the sides to be shiny again.

SNS- that looks great!

Interesting about the 90’ aluminum and how it is pulling on the hull perpetually.

Borealengineering :)

Tom

Where did you get your repair materials?

Looks great!

T

timatkn: "Where did you get your repair materials?

Looks great!

T"

Express composites for most of it, as recommended by our own Arcola.

The kevlar CF weave was something I bought a handful of years ago and that place is no longer in business.

tumblehome: "SNS- that looks great!

Interesting about the 90’ aluminum and how it is pulling on the hull perpetually.

Borealengineering :)

Tom"

Tom, I'm going to have to trademark that term... :-)

I am inclined to go with Option 2, 1/16" aluminum angle, as I fiddled with the drops and they also don't want to line up well. The seats are curved - presumably bent after steaming - but the ends do not get back to flat. So the truss drops angle decidedly inward when affixed to the seat (but not affixed to the gunwales).

I'm not much of a woodworker or metalworker, but I tend to abhor any joint/connection/union that inherently stresses/torques in its resting position.

Regardless, it's all going to have to wait. Current plan is to bolt for a Woodland Caribou PP solo in a couple days...so I'll deal with that tandem when I return.

Enjoy the 4th, all!