I picked this canoe up after seeing it on Craigslist for $300. I knew it needed new gunnals and bow and stern. I used it to access some public land for bow hunting last fall. Had it sitting on top of my duck boat and didn’t have it tied down and a strong wind picked it up and threw it across the road and it hit the curb and broke a few ribs and the fiberglass

Finally got to fixing it a few weeks ago . I started cutting out damaged glass and just kept going as I saw cracks in other places

Wasn’t sure I could pull it off from how bad it was. Carefully cut out damaged ribs and butted them into the bottom between the shorter ribs

Also worried I would maintain the bows profile well when fiberglassing

Added auto body putty to smooth . Several coats and lots of sanding

New paint

Prepping wall for gunnals. Used walnut and hackberry. ( thought we were picking ash out but realized it was hackberry after we had sanded and cut it atvtgecsawmill and just decided to go with it)

Very Nice Job Randy

See the splices?

She lives!

Wow, you did an awesome job; I like!!

Wow,I have a soft spot when it comes to a nice looking canoe. You Sir did one fantastic job on that canoe! What a beauty! Very nice work. David

Nice. I love them old canoes.

My son and I took she for a paddle down the middle fork of the crow river

Pure magic . I’ve made bows and really enjoy that but bringing back this canoe to life was really a fullfilling experience

I have always wanted a canoe with a seat, I bet that makes it really comfortable instead of kneeling.

I like them older all wood ones also.

I have always wanted a canoe with a seat, I bet that makes it really comfortable instead of kneeling.

I like them older all wood ones also.

Hope to have many adventures with her and bow hunting will be many of them

Great job Gaur.

What is the length and weight of your canoe?

She is a beauty, fine job! Shoot straight

she's a beaut. Nice job !

She’s 16 foot prospector and weighed 55 lbs but I probably added a few pounds. She’ll carry 900 lbs

You have way more patience then me, I just have a cheap poly wal-mart canoe!

That turned out really nice.

That's a nice canoe. What brand is it? It looks a lot like one I have, mine is a Mansfield canoe by Stowe.

Looks great, Guar. I built fiberglass fishing boat molds for over 35 years, and this is the best looking novice repair job I've ever seen. GREAT JOB!!

-Joe

Thanks Joe

Hip it is a Mansfield but The 16 ft one not the 13 ft fishing model

I sanded off the Mansfield logo when I was sanding out epoxy drips

You did a great job. Great to see you and your son getting it on the water. Always wanted a canoe. Well done Gaur

Deno

Fantastic job. Thanks for sharing.

Restoring classic bows is noble work. - lbg

Heck of a job dude. I use a 14' kayak a lot. Just easier to use than my canoe.

I like to restore many old thIngs. Classic bows, boats, furniture...

Looks great. You did an awesome repair job!

Awesome job, looks great!! I love a good looking canoe, just something about it.

How does a fiberglass canoe handle contact with rocks? All I’ve ever had were made of aluminum. A lot of great times float fishing for smallmouth.

MP

Very cool, thanks for sharing.... my canoe is 13 feet and still too big.... I am in the UP,,,, just missed out, on a custom 8 footer, some dentist from the lower, bought it before I could get to it....... what the hell does he need it for,,, ha ha

I tried to pry my friends 10 footer off of him, no dice. Gloria at Luckys bait shop in Iron River has a 10 footer she traps minnows with, been trying to buy that from her for a few years, but still have not softened her up enough,,,, ha ha

good post

That is awesome Gaur! Hackberry is a good wood, very strong and flexible. I can see how proud your son is of the canoe! Beautiful work, enjoy it.

The fiberglass could take a hole if you hit a rock hard. I’ll carry some gorilla clear tape in my pack and as you can see you can repair it. The idea of the thin mahogany ribs is that it flexes some with hits and the thin fiberglass

Outstanding Wish it was mine Brings back a lot of good memories from days past

You done a great job, enjoy that canoe. You earned it.

Great job have fun

Tried hunting from a canoe once. Till we got the dang thing carried up the mountain, half the day was gone.

Great job, I suggest you name it Lazarus

George this is where I live. Lots of water and no mountains

Ron I was thinking more of a girls name but Lazarus is fitting

Nice job! I've been looking at canoes and figuring one will be my retirement present to myself. Soon...

Beautiful work, love canoes. Who's the manufacturer, couldn't make it out in the first pic? Looks similar to a beloved and beat up Old Town Tripper I got off a white water junkie. Royalex work was all marine epoxy and fiberglass cloth, but I didn't have to put in near the time and TLC you did. Results weren't as easy on the eyes as yours, but it gave me and my kids years of adventures. Oh, and you have my condolences for having to be Frisky's neighbor, but I am jealous of the 1000 lakes thing!

Very nice looking canoe love those older canoes.Now you get to enjoy your hard work.

It is called a Mansfield made by Stowe Vermont in the 70s-80s. I called owner of Merrimack canoes to get some advice and order a brass noise guard that I’m still waiting to arrive. He said Mansfield was a copy cat to their canoes. Merrimack has been making them since 1954. They do theirs in carbon and Kevlar these days but has the thin mahogany and wood trim to make it feel like a wood and canvas canoe

That is a beauty Randy. That will bring you lots of memories and adventures. Well done.

Very nice, looks like a lot of memories to come.

Great job Gaur. Like Dana C., I am going to gift myself a canoe when I retire.

Cool map. For the record MN has 14,000 lakes, countless streams and rivers. Great place to own a canoe.

I always took the roll of 'boat tape' on every canoe trip, I got it from Paragis in Ely. We now carry the Flex Tape, it is suppose to stick to damp surfaces. The old grey boat tape required the canoe to be bone dry. I have never need to use it on our canoes, we are wet footers, but I have gone through two rolls patching other peoples canoes out in the Bdub and Quetico. Load them floating and unload them floating, and keep them off the rocks. Too many people are afraid to get the feet wet and drag the canoes on shoreline rocks.

Thanks for saving a beautiful canoe. You sure do nice work.

The 16' Prospector copies will ride out some pretty big waves, about the only thing they will not do is win a canoe race with an 18.5' Minnesota 2. They may feel a bit frisky with a light load, but throw some packs in them and they calm down real nice. They respond to the shape of the paddle stroke like magic.

I like the wood choices. Looks good.

Awesome job sir....

Here's a modern-day version (Bill Mason ) design from Canada.

Super looking canoe! You did a really nice job with the restoration!

Joe

Truly amazing craftsmanship. TLM

Nice job sir !!

Showed pictures of Mansfield to guys in our work shop.Awsome boat!

Nice job. Great looking canoe. My neighbor has a very old similar looking canoe hanging upside down from the ceiling as a decoration. Yours is back in service where it belongs and beats the hell out of my alumacraft :)

Randy, mine is similar to yours, 16'length 34" beam, measurements same as a Souhegan. You did a outstanding restore job and it looks great. I'm gonna refinish mine soon and also fix some hairline cracks in the gelcoat.

Hip

Yours looks great Hip. So you saying it’s the souhegan model?

No, that's a guess, I don't know the model. I bought it used a good while ago but when I compare it to the Merrimack models the Souhegan is about the same. Hip

Very nice job. I just rigged up a 15 foot Lowe's aluminum boat for bow fishing but it is 106° here.

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