Should Canvas be this tough to remove?

Rosie sat on the saw horses, keel up, and ready to be undressed. I carefully began the process of pulling the canvas off. It was tricky business because it stuck in some places. I needed a good putty knife to "unstick" the canvas from around the hull. As each piece of canvas came off, remnants seemed to be left behind. I also noticed that some wood fibers seemed to be coming off with the pieces of canvas. I thought little about it and continued the work. Mistake # 2 (see previous post for #1). I removed all the canvas from the entire boat, and was ready to assess the damage to the planking. The planking that I could see seemed to be in perfect shape, with a few small exceptions. But I was concerned about all these remnants of canvas left on the hull … so I posted again on WCHA.org. The answer I got was somewhat shocking to me.

I did not remove canvas … I removed fiberglass. That’s right, the boat I was sure was canvas, was actually fiberglass (pretty stupid in retrospect). Apparently I got lucky because the fiberglass job was a poor one. A good fiberglassing would adhere completely to the wood and prove every difficult to remove. So Rosie's original canvas, which I think was called Yale Blue from the remnants I found under the gunwales, had been removed and replaced with a bright red fiberglass. I was very surprised. So what to do about all those remnants (fiberglass residue)? Get a heat gun, and heat each and every one and scrape them off. That was the answer I got. If I had used the heat gun from the beginning to remove the fiberglass, I would not have had the residue and I would not have had the wood fibers pulled up. So now I have to go over every inch of the hull with a heat gun and a scraper and make her smooth again. I hope this is the last mistake I make, but I am sure it will not be.

Old Town Color Chart



Hull with Fiberglass residue: