Sunday 23 April 2017

Canvas is on, almost there


Wrapped in #12 cotton duck canvas


Draped and cut laid over hull, with enough overlap

Clamped and pinned with come-a-long, stretching canvas tight

Canvas done to the end

Untreated canvas will need tooff gas



Assembling seats

Wednesday 19 April 2017

First Cruiser off the form!

 First boat is finally off. Build quality was important, but the objective was to pull a boat quicker than what would be normal in order to see if the form captured the shape of the boat. Material was not as selected, with mostly flat sawn planking but still well put together. Boat came out awesome and is correct. Form will need a few tweaks in some areas as expected, but its a success. 
It will be canvassed and seats are underway, launch should be in a few weeks. 
Below are some pics of its details. 
Cameras never seem to capture the shape and curves the way they appear, and even make it look warped , which its not.
















Varnish













Wednesday 12 April 2017

Early EM White canoe

Probably blogged this before, but too lazy to check and these early Maine guide canoes are so nice. Jerry Stelmok at Island Falls Canoe is still making several versions , his 18' an incredible wilderness tripping canoe. We brought this example back from Maine. It needs much work, the centre section having several broken or smashed ribs, and gunwale breaks.  Still, it retains its classic shape, and has the original bronze oval deck plate, and the brass cutwaters unique to these canoes are intact on each stem and in great shape. This example is dated to the early 1920s, and after restoration will be a great paddler for an afternoon or a week. 
Below are pictures of it as collected. 






Ready for the trip back to Ontario


Sticks out a little at 18' 



Long slender canoe shows its length on a minivan



Classic sheer and shape



Modern version still being built


Classic gunwale tips extending beyond the stem


Slender decks


Original oval plate


Remnants of metal guard on tips


Rotted tips to be restored



Nice shape despite broken gunwales


Carry thwart 



Brass stem covers








Half width cant ribs

#2 in the que for restoration