see through Bottom

[J Sparhawk]

I once came across a site about a person who made canoes with lexan or plexiglass bottoms. I am thinking that would be kind of silly and unique to build. Does any one know of this site 'cause I can't find it for the life of me. Also, what kind of reinforcing/sealing might be needed? Any thoughts?

J Sparhawk

[Bruce Hooke]

That's an interesting idea. One things I would certainly be inclined to do is to make it possible, without huge amounts of work, to replace the "window", since canoe bottoms can get somewhat scratched up. I did this sort of thing once in a fibreglass dinghy by just bolting some plexi down with some sealant under the edges. Not very elegant but it did keep the water out. Unfortunately I never got the chance to really try it out because I lost the dinghy a couple of weeks later...

Lexan would probably be better since I would hate to hit a rock, crack the plexi, and find myself swimming...

Since I think lexan will take threads reasonably well you could use flat head (stove) bolts run up from underneath the boat and tap holes in the plastic for the bolts to thread into. If this is a strip built canoe you could include a wood edge around the lexan to make it look nicer.

[skuthorp]

Somewhere I have plans for a ply half size Cayique with a lateen sail and a glass bottom. I'll have a look after Easter and let you know. Happy Easter all!

[brian.cunningham]

CLC has a page on it.
http://www.clcboats.com/shoptips_glassbottom.html

Happy fish watching! smile.gif

[ 03-27-2002, 10:40 PM: Message edited by: brian.cunningham ]