Identifying And Removing A Boat-length Interior Floor Piece

[Shari Gnolek]

There is a single, wide piece running from the stem to transom in the boat I am working on. It goes over the top of the ribs, and half ribs, and had screws that went down through it to hold on the keel. At the stern, it almost looks like the transom may be cut out to hold it (though I'm not sure this is the original transom).

First question: What is this piece called? Most W/C photos I've seen don't have it, and it is not referenced in any diagrams that I can find. Various reference books, and Google have not be helpful.

Second question: How do I remove it? I've removed all of the screws, the keel, and one screw I found that went up through the hull into the bracket at the transom. As best I can tell there is nothing left holding it on, but it's not budging. Could it just be old varnish holding it on (there isn't much varnish left in this canoe), or is there some other way it might be attached?

I can't imagine how you would strip the varnish, or repair a broken rib, with this piece on so it must come off somehow.

 

[Benson Gray]

I believe that this is commonly known as a keelson. The page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelson has more detail. The ribs may be nailed to this in very wide boats so it might not come out easily. Others with more restoration experience can probably offer more helpful suggestions. Good luck,

Benson

 

[Dave Osborn]

The keelson is likely attached to the ribs under the planking. That’s why you don’t see anymore screws or tacks.
Remove a section of plank directly under the keelson to see what is going on.

 

[Shari Gnolek]

OK, I may try that although now that I know the correct term I was able to search the forum and find some keelson references which provided a few other clues.

Maybe I don't need to (and shouldn't!) try to remove the keelson. In this older thread (http://wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/and-so-it-begins.2267/) nmerrill describes removing the floorboards in a 1942 18' square-back OT canoe with sponsons only to find that every rib (and half rib) was "cracked". Then, Dan Miller explains that they weren't cracked.

Ummmm. Just in case you didn't know, the Old Town square end canoes are supposed to have a keelson. They have a v-section hull, the keelson essentially defines the shape of the bottom, and the ribs are put on in halves.

A clue: As I was cleaning it out I saw at least two half ribs that were loose/raised up on one side only. I thought they were broken under the keelson.


Another clue: I also saw places where it looked like new tacks had been added through the planking for a (new?) rib, but only on one side, and that didn't initially make sense to me.

 

[Dave Osborn]

Shari,
You don’t really need to remove the keelson unless you need to replace or repair. It is difficult to sand and clean close to it when it is in place, but not impossible. Guaranteed there is a lot of crud under the keelson between the ribs. Fashion a scraper or something to scrape the crud out.
The ribs terminate under the keelson. They are not full length. So there are left side and right side ribs.
Here is a keelson that I just replaced because of bad rot... it was Spruce. Replaced it with mahogany.

 

[Dave Osborn]

As far as your loose half ribs.....generally you should be able to scrape the crud out from under them and clinch new tacks in them to draw them back to the planking.
An air hose blast may help blow any crap out from under them.