ticonderoga
"Just one more"
Pleas refer to my previous post that gave dimensions. Thanks for any info you may have.
Can you help me to identify this canoe?
- Thread starter ticonderoga
- Start date
Pleas refer to my previous post that gave dimensions. Thanks for any info you may have.
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Your other post states the length of the canoe is 14 feet. This is an unusual length for American canoes, so before the pictures I was leaning toward Canadian builders or a mis-measured canoe. With three thwarts, 14 feet seems too short. I'm not saying it isn't 14 feet with three thwarts, just wondering since some folks don't understand that measuring is done from the point that goes farthest-out in the outward-curve of the stem of the bow to the farthest-out point of the stern, and not the tip of one end to the tip of the other.
I'm also trying to recall the builder who made seats that appear to be like this, which is unusual.
Can you confirm whether or not the ribs are tapered?
I'm also trying to recall the builder who made seats that appear to be like this, which is unusual.
Can you confirm whether or not the ribs are tapered?
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
I was thinking Mullins for seats, but they are constructed differently and the Mullins canoe is different in many ways.
OP
OP
ticonderoga
"Just one more"
The length is 14 feet from farthest points and the ribs do taper to about 1 1/4" to 1 3/8". It also has two pirs of cant ribs if that helps at all. thanks for the comments.
OP
OP
ticonderoga
"Just one more"
Thanks for the info. Is there any place ( museum, organization etc ) that I can send photos to, to get more definite identification? I think it is really unique and want to restore it to as original condition as possible.
Larry Meyer
Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
The workmanship and selection of woods suggests someone who really knew what they were doing. On the other hand its an odd ball with those wide half-ribs and sparse full ribs. The stem profile looks like a Walter Walker canoe profile. The planking pattern is a bit eccentric at the stem. So its like a one-off by a lapstrake builder.
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
I think any place you might contact to get more information on this canoe might send you right back here-- unless they sent you directly to Dan Miller or Benson Gray or another of the WCHA historians, who are here... and being right here means having dozens of pairs of additional eyes looking at the canoe-- eyes that have focused on many wooden canoes.
Many of us have purchased sets of canoe catalogs available on CD from http://www.wcha.org/catalog/ and http://www.dragonflycanoe.com/cdrom.htm on the web. Looking at your canoe, there's nothing that stands out to me to identify it as being built by any of the well-known builders... but that doesn't mean that someone won't come along months from now and remember seeing this thread and say they just saw a similar canoe.
I agree that it could be a one-off by someone with skill. We refer to canoes like this as "UFOs" (for Unidentified Floating Objects). Sometimes, the best that can be done is to identify the canoe's era and possible location of its origin (Maine-built, Canadian, Charles River, etc)... which may be a start toward obtaining more information.
Mysteries such as this are one of the best learning-devices... plus, I think you'll see how great this group is, because people truly want to help figure out the mystery. They'll pour through the old catalogs and use the "search" function here in forums with the hopes of nailing something down.
Kathy
Many of us have purchased sets of canoe catalogs available on CD from http://www.wcha.org/catalog/ and http://www.dragonflycanoe.com/cdrom.htm on the web. Looking at your canoe, there's nothing that stands out to me to identify it as being built by any of the well-known builders... but that doesn't mean that someone won't come along months from now and remember seeing this thread and say they just saw a similar canoe.
I agree that it could be a one-off by someone with skill. We refer to canoes like this as "UFOs" (for Unidentified Floating Objects). Sometimes, the best that can be done is to identify the canoe's era and possible location of its origin (Maine-built, Canadian, Charles River, etc)... which may be a start toward obtaining more information.
Mysteries such as this are one of the best learning-devices... plus, I think you'll see how great this group is, because people truly want to help figure out the mystery. They'll pour through the old catalogs and use the "search" function here in forums with the hopes of nailing something down.
Kathy
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Thought I'd share what I've observed, too, so you can add what folks have said about the canoe and have a general sense of what you have. Maybe others will share what they're seeing too.
My general sense is that this isn't an old canoe. My thought is that someone with a fair amount of expertise decided to make himself/herself a nice little canoe that could be easily worn as a hat on their car and plopped into interesting little streams for spontaneous exploration.
14 feet is a nice size because it's long enough not to be "tubby" if wide enough not to be "tippy". For some reason, it's a rare length in American-built canoes.
The profile appears similar to Morris/Indian Girl/Chestnut-- many others-- this doesn't mean I am saying it's one of these canoes but that whoever built it liked that particular profile, which possibly came originally from an Algonquin birch bark.
A heart-shaped short deck is used by many builders since the development of the wood/canvas canoe.
Seats were the builder's experiment, I think. Looks like sheet cane sandwiched between rails and styles. The standard American canoe has either hand-caning, where the seat frame has holes going all the way around, and sheet cane, which is held with a spline in a groove that was routed in the frame.
The canoe has open gunwales-- the common construction-method of today. Easier to dump the water out than with closed gunwales, which were phased-out by the 1920s.
Ribs are wider and with less taper than is common. My thought is that the builder may have wanted to create a floor in the canoe that was comfortable to kneel on.
Three thwarts is uncommon for a canoe this length-- 17 and 18 footers have three and often the middle one is missing. 14 foot canoes may only have one thwart, especially if they have two seats.
The canoe doesn't appear to need much work... a bit of help on the ends perhaps, and some canvas. Should be a nice little boat that won't take much to get into the water.
My general sense is that this isn't an old canoe. My thought is that someone with a fair amount of expertise decided to make himself/herself a nice little canoe that could be easily worn as a hat on their car and plopped into interesting little streams for spontaneous exploration.
14 feet is a nice size because it's long enough not to be "tubby" if wide enough not to be "tippy". For some reason, it's a rare length in American-built canoes.
The profile appears similar to Morris/Indian Girl/Chestnut-- many others-- this doesn't mean I am saying it's one of these canoes but that whoever built it liked that particular profile, which possibly came originally from an Algonquin birch bark.
A heart-shaped short deck is used by many builders since the development of the wood/canvas canoe.
Seats were the builder's experiment, I think. Looks like sheet cane sandwiched between rails and styles. The standard American canoe has either hand-caning, where the seat frame has holes going all the way around, and sheet cane, which is held with a spline in a groove that was routed in the frame.
The canoe has open gunwales-- the common construction-method of today. Easier to dump the water out than with closed gunwales, which were phased-out by the 1920s.
Ribs are wider and with less taper than is common. My thought is that the builder may have wanted to create a floor in the canoe that was comfortable to kneel on.
Three thwarts is uncommon for a canoe this length-- 17 and 18 footers have three and often the middle one is missing. 14 foot canoes may only have one thwart, especially if they have two seats.
The canoe doesn't appear to need much work... a bit of help on the ends perhaps, and some canvas. Should be a nice little boat that won't take much to get into the water.
OP
OP
ticonderoga
"Just one more"
Thanks for all the info and insight into my new project canoe. I think it is a neat little canoe that i will use and enjoy for many years. As I am learning, this forum is the best place to go for any of my canoe related questions. Thanks
