So here's a queston regarding outfitting my canoe. Last year I purchased a new Bell Northstar Blackgold and took her out on her maiden voyage for 3 (windy) weeks in Quetico and followed that up with a couple of shorter jaunts into Algonquin.  The canoe was fabulous meeting or exceeding all my expectations, but, needless to say, even wet footing and being as careful as we could (without being anal) she took her share of scratches and scrapes.  Due to the boat being improperly outfitted where I bought her, the seller offered to replace her with a new one for this year.  Since I’m starting from scratch (excuse the pun,) I thought it might be a good idea to add skid plates given the wear she took bow and stern in only one season (well, I suppose it wasn’t that bad but you know how white scratches look on a shiny new black hull.)  Anyway, I note on the Bell web site that skid plates are not an option offered by the manufacturer.  Rather they say that skid plates are integrated into the existing layup.  Can anyone add to this?  If you own a Bell, has it been your experience that the integrated skid plates are sufficient for the general wear and tear that one would expect for flat water canoeing in rugged terrain (Q, Wabakimi, WCPP etc.) or would it be advisable to have skid plates added over and above the manufacturer’s specs?  Opinions and insights please.

Kerry,
I didn't go the way of most by installing regular skid plates on my Quetico 18.5 and after 3 seasons am pleased with the choice I made. I talked with a company rep. from a company called Rec'Repair. They have a black, tough, space age material that I cut down quite a bit to just cover the areas of wear/concern. This custom fit along with a epoxy glue and heat gun allowed me to have skid plates that look good, function well and added just under 16oz total. Thus keeping the weight of my kevlar canoe on the low side with this improvement.

The company will be at Canoecopia to talk with if it is a option for your consideration.
Good luck,
Boppa  

I think you can go either way as far as putting something on when you first get it. When seeing many used boats come in for repair it's usually the skid plate area that has the most wear. My opinion is I'd rather put on a skid plate before the damage is done... But I can see the point where they might slow the canoe down or add those precious ouces to the overall weight of the canoe. So it's all prefrence... your prefrence. I wouldn't put anything over the integrated ones right away, but would do so before they were tore up too bad. They wear like anything else. I personally would do anything to preserve my investment the best I can without getting too crazy. Scratches? I'm like you, I don't get anal about it but do my best to take care of my canoe. The bottom of my boat says I need to get more anal about it. The good news is I can repair them when they get too bad. The kind of canoeing I do is pretty demanding like I suppose most people here. Your going to get a fair amount of scratching and such over time. But the front skid plate area takes the worst in my opinion, so I'd keep an eye on it and cover it with proper stuff before it gets to bad. I think kevlar felt is the toughest for the weight, but will have to check out the new stuff at copia if they are there.

I purchsed a Bell Northwind Black Gold two years ago.  It's seen 50 days in the Q and has lots of those white scratches....er, battle scars.  I put "skid" plates on after the first season, using black felt and epoxy.  May not look as elegant as some skid plates, but it was cheap and gets the job done.

I wait until the "internal skid plates" start to get ground down and then build them up again with strips of fiberglass and resin. It's inexpensive, the glass is transparent (so your boat looks good), and when the resin sets you can sand and buff to match the original lines of the boat (thus not losing hull efficiency). It's an easy, inexpensive repair that you can repeat whenever necessary without compromising the sleek shape of the hull.

Based on input I've been getting from several sources, I think your suggestion, Solus, is sound.  If, and I think over the next 15 years, its a big "if," there comes a time when I've gone through the outer layers of the Kevlar cloth, then its been suggested that I would be best to repair with 3 layers of S-glass cloth with epoxy resin.  That being said, a number of folks, including Charlie Wilson, who knows a bit about canoes, have warned me to stay clear of adding external Kev-Felt bang plates.  FYI and for anyone with a Bell contemplating this modification, here's what Charlie had to say, "External Kev-Felt bang plates ruin the hull's performance in the water, reducing turning ability and disrupting water flow along the hull. It would be a shame, maybe a hanging offense, to do that to the best small class tandem of all time."  Well, I sure as hell don't want to get myself strung up so I reckon I'll just look after her as best I can and deal with any problem when it arises.

Kerry

This is what I do:

West epoxy w/ aluminum and graphite power. A little wet sanding to prep the stems for good mechanical bond. EtOH thorough cleaning to remove dust, grease, and any "resin film". And fine line autobody tape and masking tape to outline the "skid plate". The stems get 2 overlapping coats of the black abrasion resistant coating-sand lightly and clean between coats. When they wear through I just do it again. This style of guards is reasonably low mass and does not mess with the hull design by reducing the rocker substantially as the felt style skid after market skid plates do. A word to the wise though- pull the tape when the mix is set to point that it will not sag but still green enough that the edges lay down so the a pretty final product is achieved. The Al and graphite products are also available through West, this process has worked well for me for many years.

forget the skid plates - go out and buy yourself one of those electronic dog training collars and put it on your bow paddler - hit a rock, and you hit the button - its called aversion therapy

scratches aren't too big a deal - I just "patch" them with a bit of epoxy to smoothe out the bigger/deeper ones - eventually, if there is a need, you can just recoat the bottom with resin - the fewer rocks you hit, the farther out into the future for that fix

I'd just go over the stems now, and add a little epoxy to any seriously worn spots that are more than scratches

Quote:

forget the skid plates - go out and buy yourself one of those electronic dog training collars and put it on your bow paddler - hit a rock, and you hit the button - its called aversion therapy

That's funny ;D

When I used to trip with others, my bow partner was a guy from Boston who was an accountant by trade. He looked the part right down to his wire rimmed glasses.
He wasn't much of a outdoors man/fisherman, but was a great cook and kept in shape, so becasue he weighted maybe # 150 dripping wet, and I'm about # 190+, he was the designated bow paddler.

I would get so frustrated, because no matter how much I reminded/cautioned him we ended up slamming into a partially submerged rock at least a couple of times a day :o

I would yell at him for being blind and he would say " My vision is 20-20 with my glasses"  :-? Finally I figured out what the problem was?

I noticed he would thingy his head up/down a couple of times as we approached a landing or fixed object. Turns out that not only did he have lenses as thick as coke bottles, he wore TRI-FOCAL's :'(
He could see the rock from a distance, but would quickly lose it, trying to re-focus as we got closer.

Once I figured out what was going on, I just had him yelling rock waaay before we were even clsoe. so I could slow down and see it myself.

IF I had the dog collar , he would of been howling the whole trip ;D

;D Damn that's a good idear [smiley=dankk2.gif] [smiley=thumbup.gif]