Hi folks,

I recently acquired an old Chestnut fiberglass canoe whose finish is
coming off the ash gunwales and the bow deck has some black moldy
nastiness that needs tending to.

I unscrewed and removed the deck only to find that hornets had made a
home by excavating a nest in the foam underneath the deck. The previous
owner delt with this by sealing them in with spray foam.

The entombed hornets have now been removed, but I am wondering what to
do about the foam. Should I fill in the cavity the hornets created, and
if so, with what?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Greg

Henry Beston wrote

I recently acquired an old Chestnut fiberglass canoe whose finish is
coming off the ash gunwales and the bow deck has some black moldy
nastiness that needs tending to.

The "finish" coming off the ash gunwales is likely varnish that has
started to degrade. If the gunwales have not stared to show any rot
(check the undersides, that's where you'll often find it first,
especially on gnwales that were poorly varnished) you can refinish
them by removing them, sanding off the old finish/varnish and either
revarnishing them or oiling them. My preference is to oil; unless you
are willing to keep a varnish coat in good condition, sanding and
buffing out scuffs and cracks and revarnishing ands oil finish is
better - a poorly maintained varnish coat will actually rot the wood
faster than a poorly maintained oil coat.

The deck plate, since it doesn't flex like the gunwales, can be
varnished or oiled; again, remove all of the old finish first. If the
wood on either is rotted or punky you'll want to think about replacing
it while you already have the boat apart.

I unscrewed and removed the deck only to find that hornets had made a
home by excavating a nest in the foam underneath the deck. The previous
owner delt with this by sealing them in with spray foam.

The entombed hornets have now been removed, but I am wondering what to
do about the foam. Should I fill in the cavity the hornets created, and
if so, with what?

Unless the volume of missing foam flotation is substantial I'm not
sure I'd be too concerned. If you do fill it in you could either
excavate the existing hole into a reproducable shape and cut a block
of sytrofoam* to fit, or try that expanding spray-in foam. In either
case I'd suggest painting the top of both the old and new foam with a
coat of laltex paint (laytex paint wont dissolve the foam).

* You can make your own styrofoam blocks of any size and thickness.
Just buy a sheet of styrofoam insulation at a hardware store, cut the
sheet up and glue the pieces together and then cut/trim/shape the
resultant block to size.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Rebuilding is fun (and addictive), and you'll learn a good deal about
the construction and care of your canoe as you do the refurbishment.

Keep us posted.


Mike