New forum member from Vermont

Hi everybody,

I've been a WCHA member since the 1980's, but just joined the forum. I restore wood & canvas canoes from time to time when my real job allows, and have built one new one. The last ten years or so I've been spending more time paddling than working in the shop, and building furniture and working on my old farmhouse more than on canoes. But I canvased a 1920's Old Town HW last week and am trying to spend more time in the shop. I learned canoe building and restoration in the 1980's from Horace Strong in Craftsbury, VT.

My primary canoeing interest is in wilderness travel and traditional woods skills. I like guide canoes - my "using" canoes are the Atkinson Traveler that I built to Rollin Thurlow's plans and an old 18' Old Town Guide's Special that I restored. Both have quite a few river miles on them.

I grew up paddling an E.M. White that my father, a Vermont game warden, had. It had been painted with gray paint on the inside and aluminum paint on the outside, and had a big round sticker about 10 inches in diameter that said, "Vermont Fish & Game Dept." Definitely not a museum piece. I still have it, and may get around to restoring it someday.

Mike