Replacing ash gunnels on canoe

[wildeye rainbow]

Has anyone replaced ash gunnels on a canoe - one of my seats broke through the inner stringer (looks like dry rot)

 

It's a 20 year old kevlar; the original manufacturer can replace the ash (which is a pain in the ash to maintain) with aluminum which would make it maintenance free except for any deep scratches to the gel coat. Cost $350. I'm thinking that fix will last for the rest of my canoeing days...

 

I was going to do a cheapo fix by just bracing the weak section but if it's dry rot it will just move along that inner stringer.

 

WR

[SirCranksalot]

Has anyone replaced ash gunnels on a canoe - one of my seats broke through the inner stringer (looks like dry rot)

 

It's a 20 year old kevlar; the original manufacturer can replace the ash (which is a pain in the ash to maintain) with aluminum which would make it maintenance free except for any deep scratches to the gel coat. Cost $350. I'm thinking that fix will last for the rest of my canoeing days...

 

I was going to do a cheapo fix by just bracing the weak section but if it's dry rot it will just move along that inner stringer.

 

WR

 

I replaced the rotten ash gunwales on my Novacraft with new ones because I really like wood a lot better than metal. I had to drive to London to pick them up, though. Unless you are dead set on metal gunwales you could pick some up from Novacraft which, for you, is quite close by.

 

 

 

[woodenboater]

go to Noah's Marine for new gunwales. Bring your old one as there are different types with various chamfers. They're west end Toronto up off Islington south of Bloor. I would also use tung oil on them as needed to keep the wood water repellent and looking good.

 

of course, this will be a very long drive for you as I just remembered...

Edited October 5, 2012 by woodenboater

[dannyboy]

We had the the same problem with dry rot and a seat collapsing, when I pulled the gunwales off I found the dry rot was considerable. It took about 12 hours to replace them in our Bluewater canoe, starting with rough boards - jointing, planeing, sizing, splicing, routing, sanding, finishing and installing.

I like wood and working with wood, but if I had to do it again I would go with aluminum gunwales for the less maintenance factor, after 20 years a $350 investment is not bad especially when you figure the new Kevlars go for around $3000.

 

Dan

[wildeye rainbow]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I like the look of ash when it's new (the canoe was like a piece of art); but after several years like mine, it looks pretty dingy. I have used tung oil and teak oil on the gunnels each year and I store it in the garage (with a pulley season up to the ceiling)

 

WR

[woodenboater]

If it's your inwales that are rotten, consider scuppered gunwales so water can drain out. On my kevlar,the outwale ends are shot but the inwales look dark but are solid.

[dannyboy]

We used tung oil on our first set of gunwales and it was stored right side up in the roof of the garage, they also turned black like you mentioned.

On the replacement set I used marine spar varnish (Epiphanes) I scuff and add a new coat each year and so far after 3 years they still look good.

 

Dan