Strickland Canoe

Hello! I'm new to this forum and have been forwarded to you via Song of the Paddle.

At the weekend, I picked up a new boat ! Well, its new to me (courtesy of ebay). It's an old timber canoe, which has had it's hull fibre-glassed at some point in its history and has been painted blue on the inside. Dimensions are 14ft 3in long, by 30in wide.

One of the advantages of fathers day is that I get to choose how to spend it… so I spent some of it tinkering with my new boat. I removed some of the fibreglass and stripped some paint from a metal plate (used to bolt a thwart onto the boat), which revealed the maker of the boat to be 'Strickland'.

On the whole its in great condition. Today I doused it in woodworm killer (there were one or two holes, so better to be safe than sorry) and noticed about 6 cracked ribs. The bow and stern deck plates need replacing too. Its interesting to note the hole at the bow for a sail. There is a corresponding metal socket below this for the sail pole to lock into.

My plan is to restore this canoe, but i'm also interested to find out more about it, especially why the ribs are so slimline (and rounded) - does any one know?

Also does anyone know whether this canoe would have been canvased or left with its timber hull exposed (varnished maybe)? Excuse my ignorance on this - and sorry if I have posted in the wrong section on the forum.

On the Song of the Paddle thread, it was suggested that this canoe might instead be a 'Lakefield' canoe and not a 'Strickland'... I had uncovered a very small section of fibreglass from a metal plate / badge. This was where I thought the canoe was a 'Strickland'. Does anyone have any clues as to which maker it is? This might help to date the canoe.

I would also be really interested to hear if others have experience / tips on starting such a project.

Matt

WOW! ! nice boat. Definitely a Strickland, but later in time others, including Lakefield Canoe Co. built similar canoes there. (I live 5 miles from Lakefield, Ontario)
This canoe would not have been canvas covered, and very likely was finished bright, inside and out.

Cheers,
Bob

Hi Bob, i'm pleased that you (a true Lakefield local) like it!
Thank you for confirming that it would not have been canvased - this solves a mystery for me and gives me a clearer path for restoration. One question (excuse the ignorance here), what do you mean by finished "bright"?

Thanks,
Matt

Varnish, as opposed to paint.

Ahh... sorry for the dumb question. I had intended to varnish the canoe internally, so now I'll do the whole lot! Thanks.

A couple of comments..... as a Strickland Canoe, this should be a very early boat, preceding Lakefield. It was Thomas Gordon and Strickland who joined forces to create Lakefield Canoes. Both were very early (1860's-'70's) individual builders in the town of Lakefield, just upstream from Peterborough, Ontario, on the Trent waterway system.

Secondly, there's an interesting parallel here.... have a look at thread: http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.p...ify-who-made-her/page2&highlight=Thames+canoe posted by your countryman, Alick Burt. Both of you are in Britain. Both of you have recently come by 'Lakefield area' boats. Alick has been trying to more positively identify his (or rather his customer's). Dick Persson has strongly felt that Alick's boat was likely a Strickland. Alick may want to check out the shape and dimensions of your thwart tag; his canoe has the 'ghost' of a tag that could be a clue. (I posted a corresponding comment on the other thread for Alick to note).

Very nice older canoe; good luck with the restoration. Dick Persson may be able to guide you better as to information on build characteristics and details.

Hi Roger. Thanks for spotting the parallel between the two canoes in the UK. Its really fascinating to read about other similar canoe stories.

Thank you for the history on Strickland Canoes, I have been struggling to date this canoe, and did not expect it to be quite as old as you suggest it could be.

I am now interested to understand what model of Strickland canoe this might be... perhaps this is a long shot given that its such an early boat.

Nevertheless, thank you for the interest!

Matt

Matt:
You're very welcome. I have flagged Dick Persson on this, and suggested that he might want to comment. His historical knowledge and canoe-building background are superb, reliable, and far superior to anything I could add. Good luck. I'll sit back now and be entertained and educated by the information exchange from the 'pros'. You could also run this by Jeremy Ward, Curator, Canadian Canoe Museum, in Peterborough, for his thoughts. Wonderful folks there.
Cheers,
Roger

Question - What is the planking method used in the Strickland ? Shiplap ? Double plank w/ fabric ?

Hi Paul,
Not sure I have the best knowledge to correctly answer your question, but someone on the 'Song of the Paddle' forum thread on my canoe offered this suggestion, which might answer your question:

The canoe has never been canvased. The planking has "ship lap joint" see pic here http://www.sf-canoe.se/sv/kanot/bilder/kanoter/
If You take a look at the rivets, how they are positioned. They just sit on one side of the planks. And if you look on the inside, so they sit on the other side of the plank.
I have a Lakefield canoe, http://www.sf-canoe.se/sv/kanot/bilder/kanoter/ built that way.

Svante

Don't shoot the messenger if others dispute this theory...
Matt

Thanks Matt:

I suspected shiplap planking from the tack pattern, but wasn't sure. Now I wonder what the methods are for rehabilitating those joints. I suspect that leaking was what lead to the application of glass on the Strickland above.

Yes, I was thinking the same regarding the historic application of fibreglass.

My plan (right or wrong) is to strip the fibreglass, apply a couple of coats of wood oil to help swell / reinvigorate the dry old wood before varnishing it. I hope that by helping to swell the timber a little with oil, the timber swells to fit the joints better. Thats the theory anyway.

I have heard others suggest soaking the entire canoe with water (once back to bare wood that is). Their thought is that the water will help the wood expand to help fit the joints better. I'm still trying to decide whether this is a good plan, and then work out how long it would take to dry out after the drenching!

Anyway, hope this helps

Matt