Adirondack Guide Boat

[James Williams 007]

My dad recently fulfilled his dream of buying a little place on a secluded lake and the guy he bought the cottage from left a boat behind and we thought because it was flipped over and covered in leaves that it was an old fiberglass canoe that we would just throw away and we would put our nice canoes on the water but when we flipped it over we knew this boat was a treasure. I have included a few pics of the boat that show some of the beautiful hardware and a plate with the builders name. Because of neglect this boat is going to need some restoration which is where we need some help. We are going to need to make all of the wood that was on the boat except for the seats and the oars they are in perfect condition and look as if they have never been used because they were hidden in a closet inside. If anyone can point us in the right direction or help us answer a few question we might be able to restore this beautiful boat by spring! First question does anyone know what wood would be best for the gunwales and deck pieces? The hull needs to be restored and I am thinking maybe there is a special paint or coating that would be the best over the fiberglass? I'm sure more questions will pop up when we get this thing into the shop Thanks for any help in advance!

[Carl Carew]

Congrats on having such a nice design to work with. I would suggest that you get in touch with Jamestown Distributors, they have all the supplies you will need (except the wood) but not only will they provide what you need they will spend time and give you expert advice on techniques. They have restoration info on their site as well as being willing to give personnel advice over the phone.

The Adirondak Museum in blue mountain lake NY also has loads of reference4 material on Adirondak guide boats, they build them on site and have numerous examples at the museum (I have a camp near there) You could buy related books from their on line museum store although the material will be related to the all cedar models that were made locally.

I have build a couple of wood boats and if you can't recognize the wood on your boat, or contact the maker, Mahagony or ash would certainly work. You probably will have to steam it and eothjer bend it to a form that represents the boats shape or clamp it to the hull while it dries to get the correct shape.

Good luck and please post photos of your progress

Carl

[Chris Damm]

Google "Adirondack Guide Boat" and you will find all sorts of useful information.

[Christopher Morgan]

Wow, that's a nice surprise. By all accounts, Kaulback's company builds a very nice boat. You are going to love rowing it.

As for the wood bits, I think my choice would be cherry. I know that Kaulback uses it on some of his boats, and it looks nice, is nice to work with, and is reasonably rot resistant. There are plenty of other options, though.

Before you start painting the hull, I'd suggest trying to bring the original finish back. The color is almost certainly gelcoat, and since gelcoat is applied much more thickly than paint, it is easier to rub away the oxidized surface and reveal nice new gelcoat underneath. 3M and Meguiars make good products for this. A good random orbit polisher/sander will be a big help. You could even be more aggressive and wet sand. There is lots of information on the web if you google 'remove gelcoat oxidation' or something similar.

[Bob Smalser]

I agree that the fiberglass can probably be brought back with a good polish. Sure, you could wetsand it and apply a new paint coating like Easypoxy, but try hand polishing with a gelcoat polish first, and save the power tools as a last resort.

If you do sand it, hand-sand it. Gelcoat is surprisingly soft, and unless you have a lot of experience fairing hulls, a power sander can easily leave a whole series of unsightly flats as you sight down the hull.

Same with the wood. Unless there is serious rot from contact with the ground, your photos don't show anything that can't be easily fixed. Even the split breast hook. It can be removed, clamped and glued and the new gluejoint reinforced using bronze drifts and a backer block beneath. Plus those repair gluejoints can be entirely hidden beneath a new finish. I have an article here that shows how to do exactly that.

The best restorations keep as much of the original as possible. Don't make any more work for yourself that you have to.

Here was a pram with the hull badly twisted and the topsides rotted from poor storage on the ground. It was brought back to life with only minor work to the transoms and a knee upgrade to straighten out the twist. Your FG hull doesn't have those structural problems, and will come back with less effort.

[John Powers]

I'm looking at his ad in Adk Life Magazine. Been in there forever. Somebody had a screw loose leaving boat. At the Adk Museum in Blue Mtn Lake they have a film from the 50's of an old guy and his wife building a wooden traditional planked one in a shed. He was famous. They were planking and she was following him up the planks with a Yankee screwdriver setting the screws he had drilled pilot holes for ahead of her. Beautiful boats. I'd love to row one. Good for you.

[Nate Carey]

James, call Steve. There is no better source for information

Steve's Cell Phone 802-734-0102

[Mac McQuinn]

The Adirondack boat book by the Durants is a excellent read, well worth chasing one down.

Good Luck,
Mac