I finally made it over to West Richland, WA to look at this canoe. It is closed gunwale with effectively only an inwale. The outwale is just a very thin trim or guard rail. The ribs are tapered at the top down to nothing and the plank edge is exposed. I don’t know if there is an historic precedent for that or not. This allowed them to make the inwale square just like a normal open inwale instead of having to fit the ribs and planking. Doesn’t seem to make structural sense to me. One stem is cracked crosswise 2/3 of the way down from the top. At least 3 hairline cracked ribs; there is still some paint so I can’t be sure how many more. It must have spent some time stored right side up (a common dilemma for closed gunwale boats, I suppose) because there are a couple of rotten ribs along the centerline. Looks like red cedar planking with white cedar ribs. The cant ribs are set on the stem. One stem is not in line with the centerline of the boat on the end where the inwale is broken, but the stems are plum. Measures about 29” X 16’ with a round bottom, rounder than it looks in the photos. Ought to be fast and sporty. Origins are a mystery, but might have been a scout camp project. Anybody who wants a mystery project could probably get this boat quite cheap. The owner only wants a useable canoe of some sort, so a cheap trade might be in order.
