In April of 2022, we acquired our first aquatic vehicle, a beat up brown 1988 Core Craft canoe that had been rotting in a front yard in Selby. It was in pretty rough shape, but the repairs were all simple to execute with fiberglass and resin, so we took a chance and brought her home.
For our restoration, we went with Bondo automotive repair products and plain old latex house paint. Fiberglass and resin were used to patch holes along the ribs on the bottom of the canoe, and Bondo putty was used to smooth out the worst dents and gouges in the surface. This canoe is magnificently heavy, around 70 pounds at least, so we tried to keep our repairs as light as possible.
The interior of the canoe was a gross mess. We sanded it as much as we could and then just hit it with some house paint and called it done. It does unfortunately suck a bit because it’s very coarse against skin, but I think it’s not the worst thing ever, and at some point I can do a few more rounds of sanding and leveling until it’s smooth.
From there we finalized the paint by adding bright yellow to the gunwhales and seats and painting on her name and some cute Celtic knotwork.
I also made etched brass plates for her HIN.
We like to joke that our canoe is my truck’s mating crest in the summer.
Florence is also really really fun to canoe in!
