Sportspal Mod Advice

[Oneeleven]

I scored a sweet deal on a 12 pointed Sportspal.

The foam inlay is in pretty good shape and I'll be able to keep, no missing ribs.

The sponsons are degraded and need to be replaced. I did source out how much buying insulation wrap for pipes and when I factored in that cost, plus new hardware, I decided to just pay the $50.00 for a new sponson set which is already cut to size and has the new bolts and plates.

The foam seats from her were lost long ago so I purchased a hunting canoe boat seat that has some support, and I'm either going to buy a bow wood bench/web seat, or possibly a drop in bench (can't find this in town as of yet)

I will need to sand out some old sealant in the bow and stern points. I will replace that with more silicone (I have read JB weld won't adhere to anything that's had silicone on it? Any experience with that?)

There's one pea sized hole near the bow that I will patch. Any recommendations on materials that are good?

I haven't decided for sure but I think I am going to paint her red and I can order new Sportspal decals if I decided to. I like the birchbark, but it's a little faded.

I am installing a fastened dry bag in the nose, and will eventually get a trolling motor and fish finder. I have already scored a selfie stick for $4 bucks and am going to add this as well so I can easily get video pics as required.

Would love to hear any tips you guys have . Thanks

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[CBB]

For the hole the best is 3M 5200 as it is made for boats and below waterline repair jobs. CT has the 5200 in boating section. I have use JB Weld to patch bigger holes and it works especially the one designed for water situations. Best of luck with your new ride and post pics on the water.

[ShawnD]

3M 5200 to reseal anything and plug small holes, for bigger holes I'd use fiber glass.

Glad you found the perfect canoe

[drksthr]

good find. I was able to pick up a sportspal 12footer cheap and it cost me less than $100 to get it looking sharp and new. Most expensive part was replacing the sponsons.Theyre $50 at sail.I also picked up the sportspal foam seats at sail. cost me $25 for the pair.. watch out for paint sales.also the sportspal logo doesnt look bad. Just use green painters tape over it when you paint and it'll look better once the canoe looks fresher. as for the hole repair, I used JB Weld and had no issues for 2 years. I ended up giving away the sportspal last fall because i had no room to store it.

[drksthr]

Few more pics since it said 3 was the max for me.

[Oneeleven]

good find. I was able to pick up a sportspal 12footer cheap and it cost me less than $100 to get it looking sharp and new. Most expensive part was replacing the sponsons.Theyre $50 at sail.I also picked up the sportspal foam seats at sail. cost me $25 for the pair.. watch out for paint sales.also the sportspal logo doesnt look bad. Just use green painters tape over it when you paint and it'll look better once the canoe looks fresher. as for the hole repair, I used JB Weld and had no issues for 2 years. I ended up giving away the sportspal last fall because i had no room to store it.

Drksthr, thank you so much!! Really appreciated! This is the exact kind of info I need

I didn't know Sail had the sponsons and seats, I looked there first but I couldn't see online that they carried it so I ended up going though a canoe/kayak dealer located in Arnprior.

I looked at the foam seats,. but I ended up buying a web seat for the bow. It was only $60.00 and looks quite nice. The reasoning is I wanted to be able to then put a boat seat on top of that while fishing so that I was perched higher up. When paddling, I will sit directly on the webseat so that the balance is better.

As far as the decal, yours looks amazing! Now I'm reconsidering re-painting a different colour. I would still need new decals if I do that. I was thinking of doing a custom colour outside of the Sportpal standards.

Did you do all your sanding by hand?

Did you ever have to do anything to the inside of the boat? Like put a rubber seal or anything down?

I also picked up a new set of Sponsons. I'm SO glad I went that route as they're much different from any tubing that I could find in hardware stores. They're all the same materials but aren't near as dense and are maybe a quarter of the diameter.

I ended up buying an aluminum putty proxy from Can tire. The reviews were mixed but the application seemed more simple than JB Weld. It was more than twice the price so I hope I made the right decision!

http://www.starbrite.com/item/epoxy-alu ... utty-stick

Seat set up:

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[Oneeleven]

good find. I was able to pick up a sportspal 12footer cheap and it cost me less than $100 to get it looking sharp and new. Most expensive part was replacing the sponsons.Theyre $50 at sail.I also picked up the sportspal foam seats at sail. cost me $25 for the pair.. watch out for paint sales.also the sportspal logo doesnt look bad. Just use green painters tape over it when you paint and it'll look better once the canoe looks fresher. as for the hole repair, I used JB Weld and had no issues for 2 years. I ended up giving away the sportspal last fall because i had no room to store it.

Forgot to ask you, what paint did you use? Do you have a favorite? And the top pic, are those the original sponsons you replaced?

[Alex]

I've had Sportspals for several years, started with a 14 ft pointed, I sold that and bought a used 14 transom. I also have a wide 14 ft aluminum but use the Sportspal more often just because it's easier! I upgraded the oarlocks and oar pins and constructed a mini Adirondack chair to row with some back support. I had bought a used Merc 2.2 for the pointed model and mounted off to the side, with too much throttle it would start to bend the canoe and cause leaks, main reason I switched to the transom model, no problems with it. I also built a cart to roll it down about 1 km to the Marina so no waiting at the boat ramp, if its too busy I just launch anywhere on the shore. Also I had the sailing kit for the pointed model, not great in strong winds, the canoe would just take off in the direction of the wind no matter what you tried to do. I brought that set up to a cottage up the Ottawa river near Westmeath one year and without realizing it, I became a source of entertainment for the other cottagers. Sportspals are a great investment because of their portability and stability and even rowing, I can keep up with bad kayakers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzjrY0MzDRY

[drksthr]

good find. I was able to pick up a sportspal 12footer cheap and it cost me less than $100 to get it looking sharp and new. Most expensive part was replacing the sponsons.Theyre $50 at sail.I also picked up the sportspal foam seats at sail. cost me $25 for the pair.. watch out for paint sales.also the sportspal logo doesnt look bad. Just use green painters tape over it when you paint and it'll look better once the canoe looks fresher. as for the hole repair, I used JB Weld and had no issues for 2 years. I ended up giving away the sportspal last fall because i had no room to store it.

Forgot to ask you, what paint did you use? Do you have a favorite? And the top pic, are those the original sponsons you replaced?

I never thought of the web seats or I would of done that. LoL. I used the foam seats just to get around but the sportspal was so stable that I could stand in it with no issues and even move around with the trolling motor and stand. as for the sanding I did it all by hand. I got down to the aluminum so I could then use the Rust-o-leum etching primer. I did 2 coats of that with a sanding in between. Then i applied 3 coats of the Rust-o-leum Camo paint with a sanding in between. I used the krylon camo paint but for some reason it didnt mix well with the rust-o-leum etching and scuffed up and flaked off easier. When i switched to rustoleum camo paint it was alot better.

As for the top pic, they were the old sponsons. I later added new ones after pics were taken. Sail is hit or miss for the sponsons. one day they'll have 3 in stock and the next day they are gone and cant give you a date when new ones come in. same went for the seats. they also have the sportspal motor mounts there for around $40-50. its weird because some are labeled 40 and others 50 but theyre the same part.

[Oneeleven]

** Disclaimer: I know that a lot of this could be done via PM but I decided to keep my Q & A going in the thread so that the info is public for people who may be Googling the same questions. It's amazing the Pages and Forums I've come across in my research and am always really grateful to find stuff. I hope this isn't a nuisance.

And thanks for all the help so far! This is great~

I've had Sportspals for several years, started with a 14 ft pointed, I sold that and bought a used 14 transom. I also have a wide 14 ft aluminum but use the Sportspal more often just because it's easier! I upgraded the oarlocks and oar pins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzjrY0MzDRY

Alex, did you have to make small cut outs in your sponsons to accommodate the oar lock brackets? My canoe has them, (oars and pins long gone).


Looks like white silicone sealant was used liberally in bow and stern points, then black 'roofing' type sealant which I suspect is latex was sprayed overtop. This is all coming up and degraded and I want to remove it down to the base and start over with a new sealant. I started picking off the big pieces, and the latex is coming off easily, but the silicone is still tight in spots. Am I safe to use some kind of scraper? Is there a more recommended way of doing it?

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Really stupid question , but is it better to spray paint, or brush/roller paint your canoe? or does that matter?

[lape0019]

Tia,

I believe both Restoleum and Tremclad are both oil based paints so it won't really matter if you are good with a brush or a can. You will be the deciding factor.

Because of the slow cure time of oil based paints, they don't tend to show brush marks as much as a water based paint as it has time to move around a bit and kind of self level before it dries.

[Alex]

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I didn't have to do anything to the sponsons; just push them down a bit out of the way. I remember having to drill out the rivets that held the original oarlocks, the new ones have four holes so I had to drill. I purchased the hardware at the Chandlery in Ottawa and picked up some stainless screw head bolts that matched the countersink of the oarlocks. I remember snapping an oar while rowing around Hermit Island (Casco Bay) near Portland Maine with two other guys, we were well into the hootch so it was all good but always go out against the wind and come back with it! Later I bought two small oars at the Chandlery that seem more robust than the originals.

[Alex]

Got out on Lac Deschenes today and caught 3 small small mouths. Trolled with the oars around Shirley's bay and west of Aylmer Island. Not a great fishing day but fantastic weather. Took the carburetor restrictor plate out of the Mercury 2.2 and got it up to 16km per hour!

[Oneeleven]

Got out on Lac Deschenes today and caught 3 small small mouths. Trolled with the oars around Shirley's bay and west of Aylmer Island. Not a great fishing day but fantastic weather. Took the carburetor restrictor plate out of the Mercury 2.2 and got it up to 16km per hour!

Ohhhhh nice~ That looks amazing! Funny, I signed in to make a post looking for a trolling motor for my girl now that she's all fixed up. Once I have it, we should meet up for an outing 16KM an hour! wow. That puts my paddling speed to shame

Here she is all fixed and painted. It ended up being a lot of work, but really fun. I added a few luxuries. Made a 'raft' out of pool noodles to put my boat seat on. It does double-duty of propping me up higher, but also is soft and flexible so the ridged bottom of the seat doesn't wobble on the bottom of the canoe.

The paint I chose was at Adam's recommendation, Rustoleum. Unfortunately, I tried to get fancy and used a metallic version (Metallic Apple). It clogged constantly and you couldn't dab off any drips without causing a mess. And the coverage was horrible. 5-6 cans of Metallic apple over two cans of primer .

The canoe place didn't get my decal in, so I taped off the original one, and now that is backed by the birch bark. I touched it all up by hand with a Sharpie too.

Here are a couple of photos

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[sofiabovinoclaudia]

I am really happy and Glad you found the perfect canoe. watch otc wrote a review of crazy bulk