Mohawk 16 RX

I picked up a lightly used royalex Mohawk 16' tandem this spring in hopes of making it a good tandem fishing platform for my son and me.  This is how I bought it ...

Although this canoe appeared to be setup for whitewater, it has very little rocker and had cane seat back kits installed.  The cane on the backs is in great shape, but on the seats themselves the cane was brittle and cracking, in need of repair.  There are relatively minor scratches on the bottom, with light wear on the keel front and rear.  A previous owner had also glued in closed cell foam in front of each stock seat, I presume for comfortable kneeling. 

Well, the foam was separating from the bottom and harboring various pests, including roaches.  I've removed the front as it was in worse shape, but now I'm left with this sticky residue.  More on that later. 

My objectives:

1. Install a center seat, preferably with an integrated yoke so I can still comfortably carry it on my shoulders for short distances.
2. Remove the cane seat back kits and sell them, recouping some of my investment
3. Fix the stock seats
4. Add a rod rack and possibly some rod holders for trolling
5. Figure out a convenient anchor arrangement
6. Take my son fishing in it!

Today, I finished up the seat install/refurb with positive results.  My brother made a center seat frame out of reclaimed oak, but it was a little heavy.  I trimmed it down and cut in the carrying yoke.  After sanding and test fitting, I hit it with a coat of poly.  I intended to strap all the seats with nylon webbing.  I bought 50 yards of 1" webbing from an online store for $30 shipped, enough to do 4 seats.  Basically, you staple one side, pull tight, staple other end, trim, and melt the frays with a lighter.  I used a basic bostitch T50 stapler with 5/16" staples.  I also cut out the old cane, sanded, poly'd, and strapped up the stockers.  They all turned out well.

The front cross-member of the center seat is in the stock yoke location, dead center.  With me just aft of center, this arrangement gives me enough room to reach my son, yet he's still far enough forward to avoid snagging me when he casts.  Also, the stock width was 35" at the gunwales (pronounced "gunnels").  I pinched it together slightly to 33.5" to allow better clearance for paddling with a kayak paddle.

This configuration should also be fairly well balanced, I suppose trimmed is a better term, so paddling is efficient and we're not weather cocking in windy conditions, something I despise when trying to fish in a canoe.  The third seat will also allow taking my daughter when she's old enough to tag along. 

Next up will be installing a rod rack and holders.  I have a few ideas on how best to do that with limited weight.  Looking forward to getting out in this boat, particularly this winter to troll for crappie.