Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Gear Forum :: Seeking Advice on Deformation Issue
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Banksiana |
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. |
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BiffSkidmore |
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! |
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jhb8426 |
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BiffSkidmore |
I will look into this! |
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BiffSkidmore |
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justpaddlin |
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 |
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BiffSkidmore |
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... |
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BiffSkidmore |
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! |
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BiffSkidmore |
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Cedarboy |
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jhb8426 |
The spacers may be providing an extra torque on the hull that would not be there without them. |
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Banksiana |
You can see an example of a sliding pedestal seat in the upper right of the page. |
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Cedarboy |
Give it a shot might be suprised at how loose they may be. I do this with my canoes each year. CB |
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Voyager |
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BiffSkidmore |
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. |