# '86 Gheenoe restored (Finally!)



## Back Country (Dec 30, 2017)

After WAY too long, I finally have my old 1986 Gheenoe back in shape and can fish from her. In 1994, I was living in South Carolina and I bought the boat & trailer used from a friend of a fishing buddy in Atlanta. The first photo below is me fishing with that same buddy’s son during 2008 at Lewis Lake in Georgia; Lewis also was the first lake at which I ever fished from the boat. I was living in Louisiana in 2008, and towed the boat to Georgia to fish at Lewis. I’ve hauled the boat with me in my moves from South Carolina to Louisiana to North Carolina to Ohio and then to Georgia.










After more than twenty years of use and half-assed, fast and dirty patch jobs, the boat had a couple of leaks and it was time to get her back in shape. Work, weather, and family obligations all helped make the task go more slowly. At first, I was simply going to patch the holes in the keel, and maybe replace the transom, which had become a little soft. This blossomed into pretty much a full refurbish of the boat. I was kind of intimidated about taking on the task, because I never really had done fiberglass work. A friend of mine who builds his own fiberglass whitewater kayaks assured me that “if you can eat paste, you can do this.” Just a bit after that, a fellow in Cape Coral Florida who has rebuilt dozens of Gheenoes was kind enough to talk with me on the phone; after that conversation, I finally had the huevos to break out the grinder and oscillating saw, and really get on the demo & prep. Folks on this forum were a huge help when I had questions, especially Boatbrains and DuckNut - a big shout out to them. Thanks guys!

The photos below are pretty much in chronological order. I worked on the trailer first, and then the boat. The trailer originally had rollers and short rear bunk boards – it never really supported the boat properly, and the rollers kept causing damage to the keel when trailering the boat.


















Got the idea for tilting rear bunks from a video I saw online. Makes centering and loading the boat easy.

























































I used wood a fair amount because I already had the wood; I did make sure that any wood I used first was well sealed with epoxy, and then covered with multiple layers of glass. Later on during the refurb, I used some PVC board. If I were to do it over again, I’d probably use more PVC board and less wood. Also, I added extra weight in other ways that probably could have been avoided; as an example, I wanted to “beef up” the bottom inner hull and used 17 oz. 45/45 biaxial ..... probably overkill.


















Gluing in the transom.

























I tried to ensure that the foam in the seats was sealed off from water and insect entry; I made drain tubes for the seats out of PVC pipe. We’ve got tons of ants here in west-central Georgia, and some of them love to set up house in foam. Because I was going to be mounting my seat bases on wood, I anchored the mounting screws in hardened epoxy (see photos) and used a dab of 4200 when inserting each of the mounting screws.


----------



## Back Country (Dec 30, 2017)

I always had wanted some truly dry storage in the boat, and the stock flip-type cover of the middle “seat” never provided it. Drove me nuts - every time it rained and the boat was outside, I’d have to bail out the center compartment…..so, I built a real lid and now have dry storage. I ended up saving the original flip-lid, cutting it in half and using the parts as fishing rod supports.


----------



## Back Country (Dec 30, 2017)

After grinding down to good glass, repaired keel (inside and out) and then re-glassed the entire center line first with 4" 10-ounce tape followed by 8" 12-ounce biaxial tape.









I painted the outer sides with 3 coats of Jack Tar Ducking Skiff (Olive Drab) and covered the bottom with 3 coats of a mix of epoxy, graphite, and cabosil; each successive coat had increasingly more graphite and less cabosil.


















































When I’m fishing in the boat with a friend, I usually sit in the back and man the trolling motor there. When I’m fishing by myself, I’ve found that paddling and maneuvering is a lot easier if you sit in the front seat. I put together a simple bow mount for the trolling motor that I fashioned after one I saw online that was designed for canoes; it’s really easy to attach or remove as needed.


















Getting her ready to go in the water.


































Of all of the tools and paraphernalia that I had and used during this project, ones that often turned out to be especially handy were the oscillating saw/sander/tool, my Dremel tool and a can of Adtech P-14. It feels so good to be back in my fishing machine; just like coming home.


----------



## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Congratulations, she looks great! Happy yo have helped and been a part no matter how small! Nice work and happy fishing, James... er BB’s, er whoever I am this week!


----------



## Chris Beutel (May 2, 2018)

Really nice work!


----------



## DBStoots (Jul 9, 2011)

Amazing--mad respect for your talent.


----------



## ceejkay (May 7, 2016)

That’s a great rebuild. You should feel very proud of the outcome.


----------



## makin moves (Mar 20, 2010)

I clicked on this not expecting much but I was wrong. Then when I saw your work bench and I knew you had this


----------



## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

Congrats on restoring your boat. Very impressive outcome, both in terms of appearance and functionality. Enjoy!


----------



## texasag07 (Nov 11, 2014)

Excellent work!


----------



## jasonrl23 (Jul 27, 2009)

Nice work!!


----------



## orey10m (Aug 19, 2019)

This is awesome. Thanks for posting. so impressed


----------



## Tommy1 (Mar 3, 2016)

Much respect for your persistence and taking the time to make the improvements you wanted. Looks great!


----------



## Moonpie (May 12, 2020)

Absolutely beautiful restoration and thank you for taking the time and effort to document it.

It’s quality posts like this that keep forums interesting.


----------



## tdg (Nov 29, 2007)

Great job and I like the colors you chose.


----------



## Back Country (Dec 30, 2017)

I had mentioned the tools that were particularly handy when I was working on the boat, and there was one that I forgot - my hand drill. I used a drill press when I wanted to be certain that I was drilling perpendicular to a surface; I used the hand drill for just about everything else that I drilled. The precision and control you have are wonderful. With a sharp bit, and for relatively small diameter work (including pop rivets), nothing beats it.


----------



## Moonpie (May 12, 2020)

Another member (Green Tide) posted on the General section looking for advice on a Gheenoe rebuild. I linked this thread there for him to see what an amazing job you did with yours. Hopefully he’ll reach out to you for some expert advice.


----------



## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Nice Job !


----------



## Net 30 (Mar 24, 2012)

Helluva nice job. 

I think my favorite part of the build is the rod racks. There are quite a few $40,000+ skiffs out there that don't have anything close to racks that look as good!


----------



## orey10m (Aug 19, 2019)

Where did you get your paint and white type/brand did you use? (Nevermind I see that "Jack Tar" is the brand..wish I could find something similar in white or light grey)

Are you happy with it?

I'm not nearly as handy or professional as you but am looking to do a new paint job on my fiberglass square back canoe. Would love to do the graphite bottom too..did you add that for strength? Do you think it adds much weight?
...I truck load mine without a trailer and bump it off rocks and stuff


----------



## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

Excellent work! 

Nate


----------



## Back Country (Dec 30, 2017)

orey10m said:


> Where did you get your paint and white type/brand did you use? (Nevermind I see that "Jack Tar" is the brand..wish I could find something similar in white or light grey)
> 
> Are you happy with it?
> 
> ...


After several months of sitting in all kinds of weather here in Georgia, the paint (inside & out) is holding up fine. I used the Jack Tar Ducking Skiff because it was the color I wanted, it had been recommended to me by several people, and it was inexpensive (I paid about $30 for a gallon). It can be a bit hard to find, depending on where you live. You can find the Topside (Rustoleum) pretty easily; I had used it to paint the trailer, had some left over, and decided to experiment with mixing it with the olive drab Ducking Skiff.

I used the epoxy & graphite mix because I had read that it provided a hard, slick surface. I had no prior experience with this or with any of the other "slick" bottom coverings (Steelflex Super Slick, Frogspit, etc.). I bought the epoxy and graphite and simply went with it. Hopefully others here with more experience will chime in to help you get a handle on what might best suit your needs. 

It took 9 fluid ounces of epoxy for each coat that I applied to the bottom of the hull. The first coat was 9 oz of epoxy plus 4 tablespoons of cabosil and 2 tablespoons of graphite; second coat, 2 tablespoons of cabosil and 4 tablespoons graphite; third coat, 6 tablespoons graphite.


----------

