Rhinelander Guide Boat Restoration

[finngunderson]

I would appreciate advice regarding painting, caulking, and finishing a 30's era row boat. Only the planking (2 1/5 to 4 inches wide) survived and all else including 35 ribs, stem, keel, transon etc. have been or are going to be replaced. The bottom is to be canvased. The old paint has been removed and the new ribs are white cedar, and other parts white ash. I have been reading the posts re paints including house latexes, and other recomendations. When finished the boat will be in the water about 2 months each summer in northern Wisconsin.

I would like advice regarding primer and finishing paint on the interior of the boat, (topsides). There are 1/4 inch spaces between some of the planking. I plan to fill these with cedar strips, but need additional caulking in them. The boat builder who is going to do the canvasing suggested epoxy with sawdust filler for these areas. I have cotton caulking yarn. The boat was originally caulked with oakum. The old nail holes I've been filling with epoxy with colloid filler. Can I use a polyestr resin as well as an epoxy?

I am not trying for a perfect restoration to original. I am adding a wooden strip at the top of the canvas, and shortening the bow about 1 1/2 inch to get rid of the rot and nail holes there. The area above the wooden strip I plan to bleach and varnish, if necessary with a stain to restore the wood color.

Any advice will be appreciated. Are there any other Guide Boats out there? The original interior color was a light grey/green, I think.

Finn Gunderson, Birchwood, WI.

[Todd Bradshaw]

When you say "in the water for two months" does that mean "in the water when you're out boating" or actually sitting in the water 24/7? Most of the marine enamels and canvas fillers won't tolerate constant immersion for days and days. They soften-up and peel.

Polyester resin isn't made for wood, or to stick well to wood. Epoxy is a much better choice - but - big epoxy fills on traditionally planked boats generally aren't a great idea. The two materials (the large fill and the original plank wood) have very different physical characteristics and are unlikely to get along, resulting in eventual problems of various types. Sawdust fills are quite hard to match color-wise if you have exposed bright wood as they go very dark. They're also difficult to sand smooth without dishing the heck out of the much softer cedar around the fill. The best thing to replace missing wood with is nearly always more wood, but I suppose that before you fill all the gaps between planks, be it with wood, cotton of some kind of goo-in-a-tube calk, it would be a really good idea to find out how much they may close up as the boat gets used and the old planking picks up some moisture.

You might want to talk to this gentleman in Boulder Junction who restores Rhinelander Guide Boats. I've seen a couple of them and they were quite nice. (...and ignore most of the info you get from the easterners here as they'll think you're talking about Adirondack Guide Boats, which are a somewhat different animal) http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/images/icons/icon10.gif

http://www.upnorthdave.com/boat_works/boat_works.html

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