Stem repair
Last time, one canoe’s bottom separated from the sides while I was gluing them together with epoxy fillets. I wrapped that boat with a bunch of tape to hold it together, which messed up the intended curve at the stem:
Bending the gunwales to this shape would be very difficult, and the gunwales would be trying to tear the stem apart. On Facebook, Mik Storer recomended that I make an incision down the stem and glue it back together in the correct shape, clamping the gunwales on to make sure the resulting curve is fair. That’s exactly what I have done.
First, I cut down the seam at the stem:
Then I clamped the gunwales in place to define the canoe’s proper sheer line:
Immediately after that photo, rain storms rolled into Sydney. Rather than put the job of till tomorrow, I flipped the boat upside down, covered it with a tarp, and applied an upside-down fillet in the stem. It’s dark under there so no pics, but I am optimistic that the fillet was thick enough and that the clamps will hold until it sets (the gunwales really want to pull that seam apart).