Grand Laker restoration

Trailer adjusted to fit, and shrink wrapped for January travel

 

Recent winter storms in New England not only dumped lots of snow and knocked power out, but the roads were full of salt and ice preventer.

 

Wrap likely wont last the 1000km, but will get us over the majority of the way without a layer of salt and dirt inside

Not too much overhang, not bad for a full 19'8"

 Ready to roll, a mild weekend thaw was the perfect opportunity to run to Maine to retrieve it

 Somewhere around Albany NY it started to slowly unravel, but no matter since the sun was out and the pavement was dry

Unloaded and unwrapped before it goes in the shop

New rails tied inside, to be installed as part of a working restoration

 

Solid stem, planks and ribs. 

Solid transom and thwarts, broken rails

 

Spruce rails will be replaced with ash. 

 

 Seat and knees are solid

Transom plates inside and out to keep the engine bracket from biting into the wood

 

Half ribs, interior is a candidate for sealing and painting with marine enamel, and will likely get painted. Fiberglass is well adhered so wont be removed, work starts next week

Grand Laker canoe !

From  http://www.canoetripping.net and a post by Robin Lauer, a fan of Chestnut canoes, to whom we passed on a Chum a few years back:

Grand Lakers are to eastern Maine's Grand Lake Stream area what drift boats are to the great fishing rivers out west. They came about in the 1920's or so, Guides would get their big 20 foot traditional canoes towed up lakes via lumber steam barges with clients (Sports) and paddle back fishing for trout and salmon.

When outboard motors came about, they added a square back transom, but still kept the ability to paddle a Sport into quiet coves to fly cast for the fish. Today, the Grand Laker is the boat of choice for guides in the Grand Lake Stream area and the Sports are attracted to these craft as they where almost 100 years ago.

Still being built by a select few, and a bargain for the amount of work and materials that go into them, between the exchange and other projects acquiring one has been out of reach until recently.

 Dale Tobey, builder and restorers of Grand Lakers as well as guiding out of them, offered up a boat needing some repairs and restoration at a price too good to be true, and when he offered to deliver it closer to relatives to keep our drive down it was a done deal.

 

Dale guiding. The boats handle a 10 hp engine with ease. 

At work in his shop
 

Dale Tobey

Registered Maine Master Guide

Hunting and Fishing. Specializing in Bear and Bobcat hunts with hounds.

Dale Tobey

Grand Lake Stream, ME 04668

207-796-2884

djtobey@maineiac.net

More shots of Grand Lakers in their element in Maine

Heading back to the garage until the new year when we can take a road trip

 Could have used a bigger trailer for  the  200lb boat

Waiting for pickup with rail stock tied in

New rails and a few ribs and refinishing and it will be ready this spring

 

At 19ft long and 4' wide, theres lots of room for kids, fishing and camping gear

 

Just what Northern Ontario lakes and rivers need

The lightest 4 stroke 9.8hp, after breaking in this past summer its a great match  for the hull. Quiet, light and great on fuel.

More to come once it arrives in the shop.

Form tune up and new build

Time for a winter build, a new tripping canoe. Once the snow flies the sawdust will be flying the shop for a spring launch. The Atkinson Traveller, designed by Rollin Thurlow draws heavily from the early Maine guide canoes, designed for river and lake travel loaded for days or weeks.

Classic Maine shape

 

 Loaded for tripping with , what else, canvas packs

 Nice fair hull

 Form to be tuned up

 New bands are sheared to  2.5", ready to go on after the old ones come off

"

 Loose bands arent the best for building, they create the risk of bounce and tacks not clenching properly

 Nice looking traveller, well travelled and used. Boat has a great vintage look for a newer built boat

 Old wisdom always said not to stand in a canoe, but in Maine and out east wide, flat bottoms in canoes lend themselves to being poled, especially in shallows. 

The Travellers popularity extends to countries where North American canoe culture has many followers, this example is from Germany

All we have to do now is assemble it.....

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