After John and Nancy had owned the canoe for a number of years, it was again damaged when blown away in a storm. I believe it was found under a neighbor's dock with the canvas torn and a puncture in one of the planks. The torn canvas was removed and the canoe was then stored. Over the years, the varnish deteriorated and a couple of the floor boards suffered some dry rot, but overall, the canoe remained structurally sound.
Our goal was to refurbish the canoe without losing the hard-earned patina that it had developed over the last 46 years. The hull of the canoe has its share of bumps and bruises and each one tells a story. The antique wooden canoe is beautiful in itself, but it is the patina that truly gives it character.
After doing a quick survey and cleaning (including removing the old mud hornet's nest) we were ready to start refinishing the interior. The first step was to remove the seats and the center thwart. This was more difficult than it sounds because the diamond headed bronze bolts were badly corroded. Several of the bolts were damaged beyond reuse.
In an effort to keep the canoe's appearance original, John opted to have the corroded diamond headed bolts replaced with after market replicas. We purchased 10 Old Town style diamond head brass bolts from Rollin Thurlow at Northwood's Canoe Company. As we continued through this project we found that most of the fasteners used in the gunnels and keel were almost completely depleted. All of the original fasteners were replaced with new silicon bronze screws from JamestownDistributors.com.
