I have your standard-issue 14' aluminum Starcraft that my grandfather bought in the 70's. The boat has been used hard by every member of my family over the years and now it's come into my posession so this year before the annual trek up to Canada (in a little more than 20 hours) my friends and I decided to give the old warhorse a bit of a tune up. The repair work isn't extensive or terribly difficult but a little heavy oak, some spraypaint, and a good can of varnish can go a long way in turning a crusty, creaking, leaking old boat into a mighty aquatic warrior again.
Basically our work involved plugging all the decade old leaks which we achieved with a marine epoxy and something that smelled like licorice that my grandfather kept in an unlabeled container in his garage. We replaced all the seats which had either rotted completely sagged to the floor over the years with some nice varnished oak. We similarly replaced the wooden transom which just couldn't hold out for another trip. All the bolts on the boat were replaced where necessary and we started on a new paint job but didn't get further than the aluminum under the seats until we ran out of time before our trip.
Sorry for the graniness of the pictures, I need a new camera. I'll be back after Canada with some questions on how to really crank this boat up a notch in the coolness category. We're thinking a floor ...
-Jerry
Basically our work involved plugging all the decade old leaks which we achieved with a marine epoxy and something that smelled like licorice that my grandfather kept in an unlabeled container in his garage. We replaced all the seats which had either rotted completely sagged to the floor over the years with some nice varnished oak. We similarly replaced the wooden transom which just couldn't hold out for another trip. All the bolts on the boat were replaced where necessary and we started on a new paint job but didn't get further than the aluminum under the seats until we ran out of time before our trip.
Sorry for the graniness of the pictures, I need a new camera. I'll be back after Canada with some questions on how to really crank this boat up a notch in the coolness category. We're thinking a floor ...
-Jerry
