C-Forum

I searched the forum regarding wood gunwales, but didn't find anything. So... I have a project coming up this fall to install wood gunwales and outfit a new Ocoee hull. I want to outfit this boat from the ground up to be as light as possible for day/play run paddling.

I have an old Outrage with wood gunwales and love that boat's feel. Not necessarily the Outrage's hull characteristics now that I am used to an Ocoee, but how light, responsive, and stiffer the Outrage feels in comparison to my current Ocoee with vinyl gunwales and a Mohawk saddle.

Living in the Colorado Front Range Mountains at 8,500', we get very cold winter weather sometimes down to -20, before global warming kicked in. Before the cold weather sets in, I winterize the Outrage, by removing the two outside screws on the end of each gunwale and loosen the inside screws, from the bow and stern of the boat to about 4' towards the middle. So far, I have never had a cold crack problem, knock on wood! , Bell, however, is very specific that they will not warranty their wood gunwales from causing cold cracks in a Royalex hull, which makes me a little nervous.

When not in use and due to limited storage options, I store my Outrage and other boats right side up from our unheated garage ceiling. I hold each boat up with three cams straps placed under the ends and middle of the boat. I probably should hang them upside down, but I have never had a problem hanging them right side up that I know of? Maybe, it would be better to hang them from the grab loops, but I have never tried that?

I have a good friend that is a master wood worker and he is going to help me rip, prep, and install the gunwales from raw stock, probably out of white Ash using stainless steel wood screws.

I plan to use the same wood gunwale design and installation as my Outrage. Anyone see any problems mimicking the Outrage wood gunwale installation with an Ocoee? Anyone have suggestions, helpful hints, or articles on the subject? I know Rapid magazine had a wood gunwale installation article a couple years back. Does anyone know the issue or date of that article?

Sorry about the long post, look forward to the pundit’s thoughts, suggestions and ideas.

AJ

heres the short version: use only ash for the wood. 1/2 " by 5/8" is best.. round off the edges on 2 sides only with a router and rounding bit ( carbide tips only! high speed steel bits will not do.) use aluminum or stainless SHEET metal screws , not wood screws as they tend to split the ash. Hold the gunwales in place with a series of 3 inch c clamps. PRE-DRILL the holes and put them on 6 or 7 inch centers. If your boat is a little flexy, install a saddle that is supported by 2 thwarts rather that just a seat and 1 thwart. also large deck plates help stiffen the boat. For a professional finish, use a small hand held planer to shave off any plastic that be above the gunwales but this is not neccessary. Good luck

https://www.rapidmedia.com/onlineissues ... pdf/24.pdf

https://www.rapidmedia.com/onlineissues ... pdf/24.pdf

https://www.rapidmedia.com/onlineissues ... pdf/26.pdf

Greetings and have fun

Frank

Thanks for the replies and info!

I currently have the hull resting upside down on some plastic containers, until I can get at this project. I was surprised to find the hull to be pretty rigid in holding it's shape without gunwales. All of the excess top material has already been cut down to the final height at the factory. I will probably just gunwale the boat at the current height and shave any high points in the hull flush to the wood.

When looking along the top edge of the hull, I see there is some variance in the the thickness of the Royalex along the edge. Some of these variances could have been from the molding process and a few from transportation. I also have a small 1" to 1-1/2" long indentation from transportation (the side is pushed in about a 1/4" along the top edge from the natural line of the boat). This indentation is not sharply bent. I am hoping that a little heat and the stiffness of the gunwales will pop that out and correct the problem. In terms of the thinner variance spots, should I worry about that and try to heat those spots so the foam core expands, or not worry about that?

After installing the gunwales, I will work on outfitting the boat this winter. My plan is to not use this boat until spring. I am hoping this will give the Royalex time to cure hard before putting her on the river.

Thanks again for your input!

This free tip just in from the for-what-it’s-worth department.
For weight savings you could try a pedestal and double thigh strap arrangement. You can reduce Mohawk outfitting weight by over half with this method. Mike Yee has a prefab system (Google Mike Yee outfitting) available with all the parts you’ll need or you can fabricate your own.
On one of my Vipers I took a hack saw and belt sander to the factory set up, carved half of the foam away, ditched the lap belt and added knee/thigh double straps of 2” webbing. In my current Viper I have Mikey’s rig loaded – it’s great I find the double strap/pedestal system much more secure, very comfortable and light.

I doff my Grateful Heads to any one who paddles in water cold enough to crack ABS!

Let us know the total weight of your finished boat if you would – less is more, more fun!

Yep, no more Mohawk Saddle. I carved my current one up to reduce weight and to allow water to move side to side in the boat.

I am going to make my own lighter weight, smaller saddle for this boat. I am considering the Mike Yee thigh strap system or something like that.

I like the North Water foot cups that I have used in my other boats. I like to point my foot back with an ankle block. Not sure if there is anything like those foot cups but a little lighter?