So now it is time to remove the outer gunwales (aka outer rails). Above you will see 4 screws coming out of holes on the outer gunwale, these screws go through the outer gunwale, through a rib, through the inner gunwale (or inner rail), and finally into the deck. The deck is the triangular board in the middle. There will be 5 of these exterior screws on each outer gunwale to remove. Then the outer gunwale screws will switch to the inside of the boat. See next picture below.

We can see in this picture the outer gunwale separating from the canoe. You see 3 screws in this picture on the interior of the canoe. These screws are holding the outer gunwale in place. They run every other rib, from the bow deck to the stern deck. The screws go through the inner gunwale, through a rib, and then into the outer gunwale. The canoes shape and structure are created by the inner gunwales, the ribs, and the stems. We have not seen either the bow stem or the stern stem yet, but we will. But we can safely remove the outer gunwale and the decks with out any fear of losing our canoes shape. The next photo will show a bow deck removal.

If you look closely, you can see a brass screw sticking out. That screw along with about 5 others on each side are holding the deck in place. The screws go through the inner gunwale and into the deck. We have to remove the outer gunwale to be able to see these screws. There are also little brass cup washers that the screw needs to  go into at the inner gunwale, so we have to be sure not to loose these. They want to fall out and land inside the canoe where they can be hard to find.

Photo A

Photo B

In these 2 photos above, we have a couple of things going on. These are pictures of the bow of our canoe. For identification, there is a long brass screw sticking out of the stem in the photo marked at "photo A". These stems are extremely important and very time consuming to replace, so we want to be careful with them. However, both our bow stem and our stern stem have a little bit of rot on the underside where the stem meets the inner gunwale and the deck. So we are going to cut down our stems about 4 inches and scarf a new end. One note: This canoe has an exterior stem and an interior stem, as well as a keel. Both the exterior stem and the keel were removed, and if you want to see them go back to the very first photos I put on this blog. But the exterior stem will attach directly to the interior stem and bend around the bow and stern connecting to the keel. There will also be a metal band that attaches to the outside of the exterior stems to protect the canoe from bumping. Hopefully, we will be replacing ours with a brass one! Much nicer.

But if you look at our photos (A) and (B) you can see that we have rot on a couple of ribs and one inner gunwale is broken. There are 4 ribs in the front, two on each side, that will need fixing. But since they are only rotted a few planks down, we are doing to try and scarf some new pieces in and connect them to the existing ribs. This will involve taking the tacks out of fewer planks , thus risking more plank damage. We are not going for a full, perfect restoration here, we want to get her looking real nice so we can use her again soon!

This ia a photo of the interior of our bow. You can see the interior stem running down the centerline, turning up to meet the interior gunwale. you can also see the good condition of the lower half of the boat and the bad condition of the upper half.

The next set of photos will be of our stern.

Again you can see a break in one of our inner gunwales. We do have some rot on a couple of ribs in the far stern. One note: The rotten ribs that we do have, bow and stern, oare only the false ribs (aka Cant ribs). This is important to note because normally a rib is a continuous piece of wood bending from one inner gunwale to the opposite side connecting to the next inner gunwale. If the ribs are in the bow and stern, they will cross under the stem, which make repairing these ribs very difficult and time consuming. But the first two pairs of ribs in the stern and bow are can't ribs, which means they do not go under the stem, So if we have to replace ribs, we are very thankful that we only have the can't ribs to fix and not any others that are more difficult. Also, in the above photo you will see a broken triangular piece of wood between the inner gunwales. That is a broken piece of the deck. When we pulled both of our decks off, we found them both to be cracked in that upper corner. More than likely we will be putting in an order for news decks. Repairing is a possibility but the insurance provided by replacements is a nice thing. 

This photo is the interior of the stern. Better shape than the bow. A few ribs rotten at the top, and a broken inner gunwale.

So here she is! Outer gunwales removed. Decks removed. And she just got a nice bath with a slight mixture of water, tide, and bleach. Not too strong though.

Our next step is to order parts. We will be getting our parts from J Stelmok, at Island Falls Canoe up in the great state of Maine. Mr Stelmok has been a huge help in this process helping me understand our canoe better. I also bought is book from Amazon and cant wait to read it. I plan to read it before cutting into this boat. 

So far we have been able to figure the following repairs: One outer gunwale is cracked and will be replaced. The inner gunwales on the bow and stern will need to be repaired. Both decks will be replaced. Both interior stems will be repaired at their tops. Both exterior stems will be replaced. Keel will be replaced. 4 cant ribs will be repaired. There is some planking that will have to be replaced, but it is not a lot. Mostly up at the gunwales, and a couple of holes in the bottom. And of course the interior will get several coats of varnish, and the exterior will be re-fiberglassed with 6oz cloth and epoxy setup.  

So , now, its time to order parts!