I have what appears to be an old rigid framed folboat "super" that I want to restore for use. It was originally canvas covered, but recovered with fiberglass in the early '50's.

The glass is brittle and tears away fairly easily. The wooden frame is partially rotten, but the aluminum ribs are in pretty good condition...other than being slightly flattened from the strain of use over the years.

This kayak is a two seat open cockpit model, 16 ft, 8 in, long and 31 inches wide, with a depth of 13 inches.

There is no rigid decking fore and aft of the cockpit, and I don't remember if there was any rigid decking originally installed in those areas.

The rigid plywood deck around the cockpit that appears to be in pretty good shape.

The main areas of rot appear to be the stringers around the top of the boat, the deck supports and the stem ends.

I originally thought the stringers were made of cedar, but after a closer look, I'm not so sure. The deck framing appears to be oak, or maybe fir...not real sure about either of those woods. The deck framing and stringers without rot, are a light colored wood, and do not appear to be discolored with age.

My plan is to remove the deck supports and use them for patterns, peel the glass off of the bow and stern to try and salvage the stem sections, and copy them.

I then plan to remove and replace one stringer at a time, beginning with the keel, and alternating side to side in an attempt to keep everything in alignment, and tracking properly.

My Father bought this kayak soon after returning home from WWII and it was fairly old then, so I have no idea how old this thing is.

I'm not especially interested in restoring this kayak from a historical perspective, but for use as a fishing boat on Ozark streams. With that in mind, I plan to use the most durable covering material I can afford.

Any suggestions as to the most durable covering for use on rivers where this boat will likely make contact with the occasional submerged log or rock.

I would like to use the same type of wood as in the original construction , if possible. Any one know what that might be?

Any suggestions as to which species of wood provides the greatest strength with the least weight?

This is my first attempt at boat building and restoration, so any ideas, tricks, tips, and comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks

J.D.

.