The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Is it actually surface mold or more likely, the outwale starting to blacken from water soaking the wood from time to time. Try sanding the surface and see if the wood is OK underneath. Applying bleach, then washing it off might help... if the wood's starting to blacken and rot, like outwales normall...

A beauty... hope we get to see the before-and-after finishing pictures.

Hi, Greg, A hull with what you describe is known in some parts as "hogbacked"... this sometimes happens to older flat-bottomed canoes when they're kept upside down in storage for a long time and the center part of the bottom sags down. I've never seen a canoe offered for sale with this des...

I dunno about staring at the boat too long... I usually get double vision when I do that and sanding down two hulls, when there was only one previously, is turning out to be a lot of work.

:shock:

What is this life, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

On saying that I know other boatbuilders that have had to give their carreers up because of ill effects.

What were the illnesses?

Hi, Dean. While I'm not that much into whitewater, I've heard reports that with the Bear Mountain designs, the Prospectors actually perform fairly well, because of the large amount of rocker and the high ends. The rocker makes the boat turn easily to avoid rough spots, and the upturned ends help kee...

Many happy years of use with the new boat! Sounds like it'll be seaworthy enough to trip in rough waters, something that the 16' Prospector was also good for. This was something I was also looking forward to in something smaller, the Huron looked like it had the right lines, so I had to try it. Mayb...

My two cents on the drag issue, FWIW... besides increasing the total wetted surface area, a keel can also reduce forward momentum when the canoe sideslips a little to the left or right while paddling forward. Some paddlers might be able to keep the canoe oriented going forward in a perfectly straigh...

Hi, Jim, thanks for posting. How many years has the oak and epoxy been in use? My guess would be that if the glue joints hold up for a year or two, it will probably be OK after that, since the epoxy will be cured totally and all the breakdown in the epoxy due to acid or tannin at the glue line that ...

I'm going with spar first, for UV protection, since it seems the UV blockers in both polyurethane and varnish will break down eventually in sunlight. Ted Moores in Canoecraft says that several coats of varnish will last at least three years, while Todd Bradshaw has posted here that revarnishing shou...

Hmmmm... maybe a little lighter and much more rot resistant than white ash... however, white ash outwales will be more durable and resistant to wear. Characteristics of various woods can be found here, I took a quick look before replying, so you might want to confirm. http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechS...

In the previous forum, it was generally agreed that epoxy shouldn't be used with oak, because the acid or tannin in the wood could create problems with bonding. Earlier, I had made some tool handles using oak, by epoxying the saw or knife blade in between two halves of the handle and clamping. These...

All kinds of information on making and using a Greenland paddle:

http://www.paddlewise.net/topics/boateq ... green2.pdf

It'll be safer to use bottled water for ballast, if the canoe swamps, their buoyancy will be neutral and will not sink the canoe. The rectangular ones that are available in stores should be OK, and stay in place better than the round type. On trips, canoe packs will also increase stability... it mig...

Jack, I'm going to disagree with your disagreement - IMO, the balance point should be checked with c-clamps first, because there may be more epoxy and fiberglass on one half of the canoe, or the wood may be lighter in one area, etc, shifting the balance from the mid-point. I also like to have the ca...