The Finished Canoe

After 9 months and hundreds of hours of work, this is what the canoe looks like.

The only sad part is it is done and now has to be sold. The next project is a 16' Chestnut Prospector. We can't wait!

Varnishing

Randy designed and built the seats. The cane and the birdseye maple yolk were purchased, however.
This is what in the inside of the canoe looked like when the varnishing was completed. Three coats of varnish were put on the inside and outside. Between coats, the surface was wet-sanded using 400 grit sandpaper so that the finish would be perfectly smooth. We used the highest quality high glass marine varnish.

Sanding and Scraping

Once the gunncls were back on, they had to be sanded to prepare them for varnish. All the edges were carefully rounded so they looked and felt great.
Any runs in the epoxy were scraped off using a carriage scraper which is a sharp, thin piece of metal, sort of like a giant razor blade.

Ready for the final varnishing and the finishing touches.

Re-Attaching the Gunnels

The interior gunnels were reattached using screws. The exterior gunnels would cover all the screw holes.
This step required patience and a lot of clamps as the gunnel had to be carefully bent to follow the curves of the canoe.

The bow and stern ends of the gunnels required some creative clamping.

Finishing the Inside

The fiberglass was laid on the inside of the canoe and then cut to 6" short of the actual length. It was trimmed and fit to the stems.

The epoxy was painted over the cloth starting at the middle and working to the stems.

Getting into the narrow spaces at the stems took my smaller hands.

After the epoxy was painted over the whole interior, it was pressed into the cloth with the squeegee and all the excess was removed.