have you tried the rec.boats.paddle newsgroup?

okey dokey ) writes:
Hi, I just bought a fibreglass canoe (13.5') and had a couple of
questions.


.. Is there anything that I
could put on the bottom that could protect my hull better from
scratches and dings than what is just on there now? Any kind of
special antiscratch paint, or anything i could buy to cover the bottom
from dings and scratches? If so, where do i get this stuff from (Im
in Kitchener Ontario one hour west of Toronto)?

You could ask the people at Swift canoe what they use. Every year they
have a used canoe sale here in Ottawa. On the bottom of the really
scratched up canoes is some kind of thick goop to try and cover the
scratches but it doesn't work. It probably protects aginst additional wear
and keeps water from getting into the weave better than paint would. Like
any paint, surface imperfections show through. To get a smooth surface you
have to fill in the scrathes and sand the surface smooth.


The second, I notice that canoes are extremely unstable as one shift
of your body the wrong way means "hello water". I have noticed on the
internet things called "Canoe Stabilizers" and was wondering if anyone
knows a cheap (price, not necessarily quality) way to build one of
these that is simple for a novice to build?

technically called "sponsons" they have been debated hotly in the
rec.boats.paddle newsgroup. In the 1800's they used to have canoes with
the sponsons built right in. I made some out of rigid insualtion foam for
two of my small home made boats. One is a small sailboat and needs them to
keep from blowing over. Look at photos of the Blue Canoe and the Loonie on
my webiste (see below) to see how I did it.

A canoe is like a bicycle. After a while you won't need the sponsons.
Experienced canoeists can stand up and walk around in their canoes, but only
when sober. You'll have to try gunwale bobbing where you stand at one end
with a foot on each gunwale and bounce up and down to propel the canoe. I
have a trophy for winning a gunwale bobbing race when I was a teen.

You can get paddling lessons from "certified" paddling instructors.
That's also hotly debated. I'd recommend a book on canoeing from the
public library. If they have Bill Mason's paddling films on video (from
the National Film Board) I'd watch them a few times. I've never had a
paddling lesson. Most people don't and get along fine if they are not
doing anything risky.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned