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

The first one is this, the boat right now has a beautiful paint job,
and you always see canoes scratched up on the bottom from beaching,
and river beachings on stones and such. 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)?

It's a boat, not a piece of furniture. Scratches are inevitable and
simply indicate that you're using the boat. Once you get the first one,
you'll get over it. If you feel the need, you can refinish it over the
winter.

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? I dont want it
permanently in the hull, something i could remove would be great. I
want to use it mostly for fishing stability. Anyone know where i can
get free plans for these things? or can offer me some tips as to what
materials to use, ie. for the floats, the arms, how to attach one to
the other, etc?

Sponsons are analagous to training wheels. Once you learn how to paddle,
you won't need them and you'll probably be angry that you wasted your
money on them. Canoes are actually very stable craft compared to most
kayaks, yet people paddle them just fine. It's all about balance and
getting used to the feel of the boat. Regardless, it would be a good
idea to get some instruction from an experienced paddler or professional
instructor. More canoeists die annually than any other type of paddler
(even whitewater kayakers), mainly due to consuming alcohol while
paddling, not wearing PFDs and not having any clue how to self-rescue.