Update #2: Canyon Wren Goes to the Big Drop Boatworks Spa
posted by
A couple months ago, I hauled my newly acquired but decidedly oldish Grand Canyon dory, the Canyon Wren, west to Moab for some long-overdue attention from the women at Big Drop Boatworks. Since then she's been flipped over, her plastic shoe was taken off and the bottom assessed for damage. Her seats were measured for Jack's Plastic custom cushions. The entire hull has been worked on and prepped for primer, which included plenty of sanding, fairing and light epoxy repairs, and a whole lot of cleaning.
Since then the Canyon Wren restoration is moving right along at Big Drop. Since our last update, the exterior hull and shoe have been primed and painted with a few glorious colors from the wizards at George Kirby Jr. Paint Company (they only been around since 1846...), the chines repaired and refinished, and the shoe and chines bedded and reinstalled. She’s now been flipped back upright so the ladies can turn their attention to the interior. Hatches are being worked on, a crack in the fiberglass up front has been repaired, and the inside is prepped for primer and paint.
And because this is an old wooden boat, naturally there was one small surprise waiting underneath. A closer look at what had been thought to be a soft spot revealed a fairly sizable patch of wet, deteriorated plywood beneath the fiberglass in the rear hatch area, extending into the port-side hatch. Interestingly, the original soft spot we were worried about now appears sound and was likely caused by a pile of sand trapped beneath the shoe. This one looks more like actual water intrusion, possibly from one of the plastic shoe bolts. The good news: the bottom of the hull and fiberglass are still hard and solid, the repair is manageable.
From here, the Big Drop crew will finish the hatches, latches and gaskets, paint the interior, refinish the gunwales, paint a chunky silhouette of a Canyon Wren (her nameske) on the transom, repair the damaged floor section, install an incredible new low-backed rope seat from River Guide Gear and—assuming she doesn’t reveal another 35-year-old secret - I'll be picking her up in Moab in late October.