CANOE IS FINISHED!!!! WILL FLOAT DEC 2

LAST BOLT...CANOE IS FINISHED!

December 2 Anna and I will put the renovated canoe back on the water!  It is finished!   Phillip and I put the seats, thwarts and handles on last Saturday.  Anna and I agreed that the 2nd will be significant since it was shipped to its owner Dec 2, 1954.  Now this canoe sat dry for about 25 years....no water under it.  It took 151 hours of labor to restore it.  54 seperate work days.  So, next Wednesday it goes on the water.

Old pieces cannot go into a common landfill!

I burned all the old planking, outwales, ribs, canvas and assorted other parts.  The ashes were kept and my bag will be taken to BWCAW!  Anna has another bag.  I just could not throw the odds of an Old Town wood-canvas canoe into the trash and think they would sit beside dirty diapers, trash bags, turkey bones and other trash.  So the ashes will be taken to a place canoes ache to be....the Boundaries and maybe a few places right here in Tennessee!

Ready to load to take to Tellico Lake!

Brass Stem Band is installed...looks classy

ALMOST READY!!!!

Brass stem band went on like a dream!  Underlaid with bedding compound and attached with brass #4 screws, the stem bands begin at the underside where the inside stem begins and they wrap around and on top of the deck. NOW I am excited!

     Nelson tells me the paint and varnish need to sit and cure for about 2-4 weeks...especially the

paint so it will not come off in sheets once it is wet.   I will take his advice!   Also, the place that a wood- canvas canoe is prone to leak (if it does) is where the brass stem band is attached to the keel.  That is why the gooey "bedding compound" is used.  It stinks and is very sticky.  So I slopped a bunch under the stem band and now I will cross my fingers until it cures as well.  So, the canoe is just about finished.  I need to reinstall the seats and thwarts but that is no big deal. The holes are already drilled and I have the seats, handles and thwarts already varnished.

 ANNA...LETS GIVE IT ANOTHER TWO WEEKS TO CURE AND WE ARE GOING CANOEING!!!!!!!!

Final Coat of Paint is on!

Finished with all the sanding, varnishing, bending, painting, etc.  Now I will let it cure for about three weeks so the paint and varnish will not flake off.  On Saturday I will install the brass stem band and put the seats and thwarts back in.  I polished the brass bolt heads on Sunday...they look great!