*Edit* - I'm thinking that new gunwales may stiffen things up... Photos added.

Hi All!

I am new here, so please let me know if I should look elsewhere!

For much of the spring and summer I have been looking for the right first, solo canoe. While diligently searching on Craigslist for months, I've passed over a few canoes waiting for the "right" deal. Well, today I found a great deal on a Mad River Traveler and I pulled the trigger! Woo!

Upon inspection everything looked great, but on first test paddle this afternoon, I found that when seated, the gunwale and starboard side of the boat deformed significantly under my weight. The boat paddled fine, but I was concerned that the deformation would cause other issues so I pulled it out of the water and am trying to figure out a solution. My first that is that the thwarts were poorly positioned, or that they were too short or too long. I noticed that the thwart forward of the seat was right up against the fiberglass on the aft side and there was a gap on the starboard side.

I'm not sure what to do here. I'm excited about the canoe, but I would like to resolve this issue. Any thoughts?

Note: I stupidly did not take any photos of what was going on: In short, the starboard side was bulging/pulling inward under my weight. The port side was not doing anything.

Thank you!

I don't have a ready solution, but will comment on the thwart. The fact that the end of the thwart is up against the hull on one side and not the other has no bearing on the rigidity of the hull. The important factor is the connection of the thwart to the gunwale. Is it solid on both sides or is there some play in one side or the other? Are the seat mounts tight?

Thanks for the thoughts, JHB8426.
I will look into this!

I think you may want to do some detective work to try to understand the modifications that have been made to your boat and why they were made. Maybe you could contact the seller again and ask some questions.

The shape does not look symmetric side to side, your gunwales seem to have more curvature on one side vs the other. Maybe the hull was somehow pulled unequally on tight and left sides when replacement thwarts or replacement gunwales were installed? I have to wonder what shape it would take with the seat and all thwarts removed.

It looks like the front and rear thwart have spacers between the thwart and the gunwales. That's odd. Thwarts are typically attached directly to the gunwales. It also seems odd to have another thwart directly behind and so close to the rear thwart that supports the seat. You've also got a pair of holes that must be a location where a thwart was originally.

Do you feel any soft spots in the hull that could cause it to flex? Do you see any evidence of large patches or repairs?

There's a guy that posts under "Dagger" on canoetripping.net and he recently bought a used Traveler. I suggest that you contact him and ask him to measure the width of his thwarts (from hole to hole). That might tell you whether you just have weird thwarts.

If you compare your boat to the one in the catalog pic you'll see that originally it had just two thwarts and the hangers for the sliding seat were separate from the thwarts (so there's no way for your weight to pull the gunwales inward...just down). Your boat has a thwart at the rear seat hanger so your weight is right on the thwart which may be what's causing the deformation. You might want to return the boat to the original configuration.

Traveler

Thank you for your insight, justpaddlin!

I had also noticed the asymmetry and the abnormal thwart positioning after comparing photos of my boat with stock configurations. I was also curious about the spacers used...

No signs of repair to the fiberglass at all, aside from surface scuffs and the usual wear for a 25+ year old boat, the exterior looks clean. There were no areas that flexed independently or felt "soft".

I'll admit, I'm not certain how much the fiberglass should flex under weight, but the starboard side was significantly bowed compared to the port side.

I'm thinking, as you have alluded to, that the movement and addition of thwarts is causing something goofy. Hopefully the hull is fine and the thwarts and gunwales just need some fixing.

Again, thanks for the input!

A simple solution might be to replace the gunwale hung seat with a floor mounted pedestal unit. If the previous owner was a "person gifted with mass" they may have caused one side of the fiberglass sandwich to buckle, creating a permanent flex point that is only apparent when the seat is weighted. I've seen a number of Bell solos that had to be modified with pedestal seats after the owners proved too large for the gunwale mounted seats in the long term. This did not require all that much (for America) mass to become an issue.

Also, it is clear that the thwart immediately aft of the seat is an addition to the original canoe; probably added to the hull to try and stop the gunwales from pulling in when the seat was weighted.

Thanks, Banksiana.

Maybe I've just got too much of that American Mass you mention.
At 6'4" and 220lbs I'm no lightweight, which is why I thought maybe this would be the right solo boat to start with.

I'm going to take the thwarts out tonight and see what that does for the shape, per the previous comment.

That said, I fear your "permanent flex point" theory may have some legs...

6'4" and 220 seems pretty healthy, but might be a load for the gunwales and sides of your canoe. You can buy a sliding tractor solo seat from Wenonah and perhaps Savage River. They are easy to install- just glue and glass. Your weight will be distributed to the bottom of the hull.
You can see an example of a
sliding pedestal seat in the upper right of the page.

Again, I appreciate the advice!

Canoes with wooden gunwales should have a srewdriver put to all the screws each year. Canoes flex and puts stress on thr gunwales. Dont over do it with a piwer tool just a hand screwdriver. Seeing the gaps you have between the inwale and outwale makes me suspect of loose woodwork.
Give it a shot might be suprised at how loose they may be.
I do this with my canoes each year.
CB

Dont forget the seats and thwarts too.

Thanks, Cedarboy!

I sold my Traveler last year, so I can't help with any measurements. Your canoe's issue is a mystery to me. My Traveler was built very strong and heavy (# 64) and I can't imagine what would cause that deformation. Just a guess, but could it have been stored on edge, perhaps with some weight on the top edge, which caused the bottom edge to flatten?

You hadn't posted pics when I commented yesterday, but I would agree with the comments about the odd spacers on the stock thwarts, as well as the oddball third thwart. I'd try removing all of them and tightening up everythings else as mentioned and see what happens.

The spacers may be providing an extra torque on the hull that would not be there without them.

Well, thanks for all of the thoughts and advice.

Yesterday took out all of the thwarts, tightened all the screws in gunnels by hand, reinstalled 2 of the 3 thwarts into what seem to be the original positions (without the wood shims) and took it to the lake for a test.

Starboard side still pulls inward under my weight. At first I thought it was better, but I think that was just me hoping as much. Banksiana may be right in their speculation of a permanent flex point due to previous paddler weight. I may need to look into a pedestal seat...

The boat paddles fine, but the flex is apparent.

I wonder if a fixed position, suspended bench seat would create a different outcome? Maybe with less drop allowing for a different bracing angle? Or maybe not a suspended seat at all but rather a seat riveted to the hull?

More to experiment with I guess.