The camera does not capture how large this 25 ft war canoe really is. It took me, Elisa and Pam  about four hours to do the filling of the canvas.  Pam is pictured above applying the gray oil/silica base filler to weave of the canvas. The filler is applied with the roller but it is rubbed by hand to work it into the weave of the canvas.   The filler makes the canvas waterproof and abrasive resistant.  Normally three coasts of filler are applied one after another.  The war canoe had extra heavy canvas so it took four coats of filler to fill the weave enough to make a smooth surface.  Pam works mostly in the office doing the book work, answering the phone and filling the mail orders but when she has time she will lend a hand in the shop.  She also drives the school bus in the mornings and afternoons and is very active in our local community theater and local politics.  She is a very versatile  person to have in the shop!

This is the last coat of varnish to be applied to Baxter's boat. Tomorrow the seats will be installed a bit of hardware installed and ti will be all done!  Its going to look sharp once we get all the tape off the hull!