Canoe Ponderings by Red Rock Wilderness StoreCanoe Ponderings by Red Rock Wilderness Store
Souris River Canoe Refinishing
Q. Hello Joe,
I have a Quetico 16 Red LeTigre canoe that I have very much enjoyed using this summer. Love it, love it, love it!
One of my trips was in the BWCA on Island River where the water was very, very low this summer, thus my friend and I paddled over many unseen rocks and put some nice scratches in my canoe. We probably scratched it about 4 seasons worth of canoeing. I know I can just leave them, but I sort of feel like starting out next canoe season with a freshened-up red bottom canoe. Plus I think it would be nice to have the canoe UV protected for the next canoeing season. (not that this season is over...I plan on doing some cold-water paddling too!)
I read your directions for refinishing canoes...and am just wondering about one thing: if I am just wanting to make the white scratches look red again...can I just do the Brushing Liquid and then the Marine Varnish, and skip the sanding step? Am I hurting anything by skipping the sanding step?
Thanks for any info!
Debbie
We've started skipping the sanding step now on several canoes and have found that it works really well. All you have to do is wipe down the canoe with 333 liquid - cleans off the hull - and roll the varnish on. Let the canoe dry for a day so the varnish gets hard, hand sand with 220 grit sand paper (just want to knock off the little bumps that came from the first roll-on of varnish), wipe off the dust with 333 again and re-varnish the canoe. Remember on this step to put down the roller after the canoe has been coated and drag a foam or reg. brush over the varnish to knock down the bubbles. Let cure for a day or two and paddle.
I have to redo the web page on this. Saves a lot of work.
Joe
Red Rock