Sorry if this is to long. I have this canoe with wooden gunwhales. I want to be sure to take care of this wood because of another boat I had where the gunnels rotted out and I had to suffer a repair with vinyl!! I have decided to do what is necessary to preserve this wood, sparing no effort to avoid the discrace of vinyl gunnels on this sweet solo canoe.
My first idea was to sand and stain in place, down and dirty. Now that I have washed it down I'm thinking take it apart and sand and stain on sawhorses. I feel this will give the wood the best opportunity to dry out before sanding. It also seems that I would be better able to inspect /sand/stain/repair those places on the wood where they meet the boat and where they meet each other. So long as I label the parts when I take them apart does anyone see a problem with this strategy?
The wood is ash I think but the deck plate has a different contrasting wood, either mahogany or teak I guess. I'm fairly certain that it will all come apart with the screws and bolts. One problem I'm anticipating is rotten screw holes. If this occurs I plan to dig it out an maybe use toothpicks and glue to fix, maybe bondo if necessary. Another potential problem is that the surfaces where the sun don't shine are too rotten to use or fix. This is a long shot since I don't find any rot with my exterior inspection. The wood is dark in those places though and needs a chance to dry out, my take. Does anyone out there have an opinion on this or anticipate any other problems arising?
The surface of the gunnel could be more smooth. The wood and fabric don't match up exactly. I'm thinking I should be able to gently use a belt sander after reassembly to bring wood and cloth flush. Does this sound OK? Then re-apply stain to those areas? Or should I sand flush before disassembly? I have been told that Watco is the brand of stain to use. Any advice or opinions are welcome. Sorry if this is too long.