|
| Author |
Message |
Grizzlyman
Member
|
# Posted: 7 Nov 2023 09:08
Reply
Hi all.
I have a nice cedar strip canoe that I’d like to leave at the cabin. I built this boat a few years ago. It’s a 19’ canoe.
I’d like to leave it by the water somehow.
Problem is it needs to be protected. Cedar strip canoes are really just cedar and fiberglass/ epoxy. The big problem with epoxy is UV light as it degrades the epoxy. Spar varnish protects it in short bursts when being used, but prolonged sunlight exposure is bad and will cause epoxy to just crumble away. It’s completely cold tolerant and should avoid being wet when not in use.
Right now I have it wrapped up in a tarp and stuffed under my cabin for the winter.
In the summer- I’d like to leave it somewhere where it is very accessible by the water instead of having to dig
It out from under the cabin.
That means I’ll have to build a covered rack somehow.
What do you think would be a good way to go about this?
I was thinking something that is maybe like 4’ tall and 20’ long with an enclosed side facing south and open side facing north with a rack that the canoe can be slid in to from the side. There’d have to be an small overhang on the north side to keep rain off of it.
Id probably use ribbed steel roofing to enclose it both from the side and top since it’s lightweight and wouldn’t require any sort of siding. I can even find a brown color so it blend into the trees
Just not 100% sure how to design it yet. Open to any ideas.
|
|
Grizzlyman
Member
|
# Posted: 7 Nov 2023 15:04 - Edited by: Grizzlyman
Reply
Something like this possibly… not sure if it’s overkill…
9642767FA6D542439.jpeg
| 
CD65B0EC1C804BE8B.jpeg
| 
77B6031DA13E42928.jpeg
|  |
|
|
ICC
Member
|
# Posted: 7 Nov 2023 15:56 - Edited by: ICC
Reply
looks like it would do the job. Sufficient overhangs at the ends to block the AM and PM sun?
We solved the weather exposure problem back in 1976. We bought a 17-foot aluminum Grumman canoe. It has a few scrapes but is still watertight. I store it on a rack outside the machine shed.
There was a nearby sporting goods dealer that rented them. At the end of each season, all the rental canoes were sold off at a very attractive price complete with paddles and 2 life jackets. The paddles and life jackets have been replaced. I forget what we paid but it was worth showing up in the cold way before sunrise to get in second place in line.
Your cedar strip canoe likely looks nicer.
What's the weight? 50#.. I think the Grumman is 75# but we never portaged it anywhere.
-izzy
|
|
Grizzlyman
Member
|
# Posted: 7 Nov 2023 16:30
Reply
We do a lot of canoe camping so a lighter boat is a must. Portaging a Grumman or alumacraft all day gets old… They are bombproof though. There is also fiberglass (heavy) and royalex but really the Kevlar or carbon fiber boats are the lightest and are ideal for portaging. An 18’ Kevlar is about 35-40lbs. Carbon Fiber is lighter than that. Kevlar is an ugly translucent yellow. Carbon fiber however is usually a rich shiny black or gray and looks really nice though it is $$$$. Then there are the purists that like wood canvas canoes- but those are more like 90# I believe (though they are beautiful!) cedar strip is probably the prettiest IMO and they are certainly tougher than you think (it is fiberglass after all). I’ve built two. My “nice†one sits in my garage at home- that is a 19’+ boat and is about 60#. The length and beam on that one.seems to make it easier to balance and carry. That’s my main tripping boat. The one at the cabin is my secondary boat and is about 55 lbs for an 18’ boat. These are not bad to portage- especially for the trade off of how beautiful they are. Also- it’s nice to be paddling wood. banging your paddle on an aluminum hull or gunwale just ruins the experience.
Anyways… Just trying to figure out a way to keep the cedar strip nicely and permanently protected yet accessible.
|
|
gcrank1
Member
|
# Posted: 7 Nov 2023 17:10
Reply
Kewl!
What do you use for paddles?
|
|
Grizzlyman
Member
|
# Posted: 7 Nov 2023 17:31
Reply
I like bent shaft paddles wooden paddles- I have some nicer ones with many colors and layers of laminated woods. Somewhere around 12-14 oz or so is a comfortable weight. They do make Carbon fiber paddles that can get down to 5 oz or so. I do also have and use an older ottertail style paddle that I like as well for a change of pace. That’s heavier but is traditional
|
|
gcrank1
Member
|
# Posted: 7 Nov 2023 19:39
Reply
I was just a duffer, basic stuff like old alum utility canoes and clubby paddles, wood and (ugh) alum shaft.
Then one day I tried a thinnish shaft paddle, handgrip fit my hand well, not too long and what a diff! In a stroke I could feel the shaft flex a bit in the forward stroke and at the very end I could feel it 'kick' a bit as my power let off. It was great fun 
|
|
DLNorth
Member
|
# Posted: 10 Nov 2023 18:35 - Edited by: DLNorth
Reply
New guy here,
but have a cabin near the BWCA and am a W/C collector/restorer.
I'd be concerned about the wood trim on your stripper, especially if it's ash. Ash discolors and rots fast, and your tarp, if one of those blue poly tarps, will hold the water/moisture in. I'd make sure there is plenty of air movement between the tarp and canoe.
And yes, our Grumman has just laid down at the shore for years, no issues.
All the w/c are either in the garage (at home) or on a covered rack on the outside of the garage back wall.
Forgot - the outside rack is as you describe except it has 5 slots and has a tarp closing the open side to keep rain/snow out.
Dan
|
|
|
Grizzlyman
Member
|
# Posted: 13 Nov 2023 11:20
Reply
DLNorth
Hey dl. Awesome. We’re probably not too far from each other. We’re on vermilion.
I absolutely love the wood canvas boats!
I won’t have a tarp used in my proposed build here. It’ll be a covered rack -likely covered with steel roofing. And exactly - I’m trying to keep it all dry and out of the sun. Gunwales are ash and that’s precisely why it need to be kept bone dry.
|
|
|
