I recently purchased a gently used 16' Herreschoff double-paddle canoe, planked in cedar on oak frames. The boat's generally in great shape and I'd like to keep her that way.

The deck is marine ply covered with canvas. The canvas looks to be in good shape except for a couple of cracks running fore and aft (the longest of which is about a foot). It's obvious that I'll have to replace the canvas at some point. (Given what I've read here about canvas over ply, I'd probably use dynel and epoxy.)

I'm wondering, though, whether I need to do that now, or whether it can wait a season or two. There's no obvious indication of rot where the canvas is cracked, but I don't know how long she's been like that (the previous owner is not readily accessible for questions), and I'd hate to give any rot the chance to get a firm foothold.

Any thoughts? Should I patch or replace? And if I patch, how do I do that?

Thanks.
Stephen Paskey