Sounds like a fun project. There are a lot of people around here (St Paul, MN) that work on boats just like you describe and make them like new again ( for example http://www.northwestcanoe.com).

Do you have a picture you could post? We would love to see it. I can image most of the boat you are describing in my mind but I got confused when you were talking about metal rivets. The only time I have seen metal rivets are on aluminum canoes, or are the rivets just screws or nails? Is it a canvas canoe or was it a striper that was painted blue, or is it a plastic boat with wooden gunwales, thwarts, seats and decks?

Any one can build a boat but it takes a lot of patients and thought to restore someone else's hard work carelessness.

Good luck and let us know how it is going.

Jag

: I recently aquired a sixteen foot, midnight blue second-hand canoe from a
: friend. However, there are a few problems with this boat.

: Firstly, its been sitting in the water (not by my friend, who lent it to
: relatives) year-round for about five years. we get ice thick enough here
: to support several pickups and a dozen ice-fishers easily.

: After scrubbing the algae and dirt off (I wouldn't have been suprised to find
: freshwater barnacles), the canoe was discoloured and cracked in several
: places along the hull, running alongside the keel. That's also the first
: time I've seen a waterline INSIDE a boat. The seats, and the bar that
: crosses the middle of the canoe (forget the term) are gone, though the
: places where they attached to the canoe are still there. On one side, the
: gunwell has popped off, and the rivets holding the gunwells down are
: rusted out. One deck also fell off in my hand as I tried to move the
: canoe. Personally, I don't care if its worth it, I want to restore this
: canoe. I'm thinking perhaps a new layer of fibreglass over top (and
: inside) will do it, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Do I sand the
: canoe down first? also, is there a way to restore the canoe's colour (its
: badly discoloured and scratched)?

: Much appreciated, I'm also researching here, but I'm not finding much.

: Knightmare