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)?

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?

Any advice would be great.

sorry about the long questions.
Anyways, happy boating
-Jay.

I don't know of any coating that would protect the hull from scratches
during 'normal' usage. I don't nose up to the shore, but land parallel to
the beach and step out the side. Make use of the slope of the beach to
'ground' the boat which will stablize it so you can easily stand up and get
out or in. Position the boat in enough water so when you step in it will
touch bottom but you can push off with a minimum of effort. Experience will
teach you what works best for you and the boat.

You don't say which canoe you purchased, but I don't think you will need
stabilizers. A friend and I have solo canoes we built that are easily
capsized and we fish them without any problem. It took us quite a while
before we talked ourselves into doing it, but once we did we wondered why we
took so long. I can't believe a 'store bought' boat would be less stable
than the ones we have, based on experience I have had in other boats. By
comparison the manufactured boat was much more stable. The best thing I can
tell you is to 'get out there', you'll be glad you did.

Bill


"okey dokey" wrote in message
...
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)?

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?

Any advice would be great.

sorry about the long questions.
Anyways, happy boating
-Jay.

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

Borrowing from an act put on by a young, experienced, Optimist Pram racer:

1. Anchor at least one boat length from the shore.
2. Wade ashore and spread a section of thick carpeting.
3. Gently pull the boat onto the carpet while
prating about the advantages of a clean, shiny bottom.

Gary had most of the other contestant beaten (psychologically) before the
starting gun.

Roger

http://home.earthlink.net/~derbyrm

"okey dokey" wrote:
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)?

Any old carpet store sells scraps.

One of the best boat-building supplies places close to you is Noah's in
Toronto - http://www.noahsmarine.com (I'm not affiliated - just a customer).
For "stabalizers" some people go cheap and wire-tie pool noodles to their
gunwales.

You may want to check out the outdoor store in Waterloo on King between
Weber and Columbia for some ideas as well.

--
Andrew Butchart



"okey dokey" wrote in message
...
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)?

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?

Any advice would be great.

sorry about the long questions.
Anyways, happy boating
-Jay.

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.