Fiberglass Canoe questions

[barriebarrie]

Hi,

My boyfriend recently got a used 16' fiberglass canoe and we are both really enjoying getting out on the water. He has done some auto body work so knew what he needed to do to fix some minor dings in the boat but we are stuck on whether or not to remove the molded seats.

I grew up paddling in an old aluminum canoe and am more accustomed to kneeling with my feet under the seat which is obviously not an option with the molded seats. The boyfriend is a fairly big guy (takes bow so I can steer from the stern) and is convinced he would do better if his seat were 8" toward the stern.

I have read that removing the seats will impact the hull integrity so obviously am leery of doing so...a not 100% perfect canoe is still better than no canoe! My concern about moving the bow seat is the boat's balance. Ideally we would remove both seats, move his wherever he thinks life would be so much better ;-) and replace the stern seat with something I can use for kneeling.

Any advice is much appreciated

Barrie

 

[Incorrigible]

Re: Fiberglass Canoe questions

Are your seats molded FIBERGLASS is my question. If yes? They may provide structural integrity (think of those aluminum tubes that went side-to-side on the aluminum canoe) in which case removing them might be an issue. Any reason you couldn't put them BACK in place where you wanted them? (8" back for in front) Also, just a guess, but the aft seat? Can you cut the forward facing portion out, leaving in the seat itself to retain some of the strength from the seat?

Sounds like your boyfriend shouldn't have too much difficulty glassing the seats back in if he does body work.

 

[barriebarrie]

Re: Fiberglass Canoe questions

Yes, I'm sorry but the seats are fiberglass molded into the canoe. The bf's original thought was to simply cut out the facing, leaving the seat for me to kneel but then someone said that would affect the hull integrity.

 

[sqbtr]

Re: Fiberglass Canoe questions

What make of canoe is it? I have always been partial to kneeling thwarts and a good set of thigh straps and knee pads. And yes if you remove a seat it at least must be replaced with a thwart.

 

[barriebarrie]

Re: Fiberglass Canoe questions

We don't know the make or model of the canoe. BF bought it used a few weeks ago, sealed up some dings and patched the seats with a 2x4 in the bow (that seat was essentially caved in) and duct tape in the stern which only had a couple of cracks ;-)

It is very low to the water and 16' long. I would describe it as having a v bottom. The gunwales are very low. It is extremely responsive. Moves extremely well, feels slightly unstable but we were paddling up current doing turns with two kids and a 70 lb dog in it the other day and had no hint of actual tipping.