Reversing and Preventing Hull Rippling
Under certain conditions, hot air may be trapped inside the ribs of your Souris River Canoe. This can cause unsightly rippling in the hull of your canoe from the expanding air. With a little bit of work, this issue can be both prevented and reversed.
If you look closely, you will see two or three small holes in each of your canoe’s ribs. These enable the ribs to maintain proper air pressure with changing temperatures. If they get clogged with dirt or silt, the ribs won’t be able to breathe.
Prevention
To prevent this, periodically ream the holes in your ribs. How often depends on how much dirt and silt gets into your canoe, but every Spring is often sufficient. Simply take a paper clip and press it through each hole until it touches the bottom of the canoe. Wiggle it around a bit to create a good hole in the foam all the way to the hull.
That’s it; you’re done!
Repair and Reversal
If your ribs have already expanded and you have some rippling in the hull, there may be an extra step. If the heat has distorted the hull, you’ll need to re-heat the hull after reaming the ribs, to allow it to return to its natural shape.The heat distortion temperature of our epoxy is 50 ℃ (122 ℉). So, simply leave your canoe out in the hot sun for an afternoon, and it should straighten itself out. Make sure you do this only after you poke the ribs to the bottom of the hull (through the foam) as described above.
Call us at 807.597.1292 if you have questions.