$50 canoe

Gil Cramer

The wooden canoe Shop, Inc.
This is an update on the exceedingly ugly fiberglass covered blue canoe that was @ QWS last Sat. Since I couldn't give it to Mike, it came back to the shop on top of the van. The fiberglass was easily separated from the hull and left very little resin. The seats, keelson,( added by somebody to cover all the ribs cracked by spreading the canoe), thwart, and keel remnant were all removed. The canoe appears to be a late 20's Old Town HW 16' long. It's actually better than it might have been. Structurally,all it needs is new decks,inwales, outwales, seats, thwarts. stems, almost all ribs, and lots of planking. And everybody who saw it thought it was junk!!!! It's Way too good of a canoe to be used for bookshelves, which was suggested by at least one person.( not a WCHA member.)
 
Hi Gil,

I don't often get the chance to brag, I just got to this time.I paid much less for my 16 foot OCTA then you did for your HW. It needs everything your canoe needs but as an added bonus I can store this one with the two halves nested together in much less space.....see below photo in background
 
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WOW!....thought I was the only one that would try anything...BUT, you guys really do tope me!...Wish I had a pic of a Faber I will be doing when 4 feet of snow melts off it...Like your upside down system...seat looks like one that Bill Clement uses.. Just for kicks, posting a pic of my 65 OTCA that was my first canoe rebuild. Need to meet you guys and have some of that Intestinal fortitude rub of on me!:)
 

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It's not likely that I'll restore this canoe because it won't be worth the cost of restoration. One of my idiosyncracies is to immediately tear apart any canoe or boat that comes into the shop in order to find out what it needs to be restored. Even though I love working on canoes and boats, my son is a freshman in college( Yes, I was really old when he was born) ,and I better come up with enough where-with-all to keep him there.
 
burn it, ya know you want to!

Gil, save it for the Assembly, we could stage a reenactment of an incident that occurred many moons ago up at Paul Smiths where one certain member was "goated" into peeling an HW away from the "for sale" line of canoes and dragged over the kumbayah fire, only to be sifted the next morning for its only remnants, the hardware. Remember Gil? Do ya, huh? You should be ashamed of yourself Gil, for the amount of ridicule you poured onto me, I mean, that poor fellow, for showing up with that poor old canoe, only to actually BUY such a complete basket case yourself. See the irony here Gil? At least I, I mean that person, didnt spend dollar one on that poor HW!!!!!!! Save it for the fire Gil, you at least owe me that, I mean that poor guy who broke under peer pressure, and perhaps a few Molson Bradors.:eek:
 
Hey Chris,
Who's Paul Smiths??? Did he build canoes??? Didn't the Thompson Brothers buy him out???? I can't seem to place him. Fire???? burning canoe???? I think the Morris factory burnt, but I didn't know about the Molson Canoe factory burning. Weren't Molson Canoes made in Canada??? This canoe is in MUCH better condition then the one I bought in the fire. Besides, it will make a great "hanger" for somebody's rafters even if it doesn't have any diamond headed bolts.
 
Have to chime in

I didn't think it was beyond hope at all. But I suspected there would be a tempting project for sale so I drove the Mini Cooper instead of the Jeep. That way I could not possibly take a canoe home. My current project has 8 good ribs, one deck, seats and thwarts. Everything else will be new. Everything.
 

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Hey Bob!...Is that the camoflage pattern on your LIZARD that you use in Flint? Wont work over here down in the Allagash, they will still find you...Maybe you should paint your next canoe that color pattern and name it the GEICO:)

"Its not how many strokes of the paddle it takes, rather it is the JOY that is in the journey"...........Blue Viking
 
camo hey.....I LIKE IT! thanks for noticing the gecko connection. i have it on my business card. at least my name and the gecko sound alike not like them geico name stealers!:D
 
a groaner

We had a guy near here that was also into lizards and was planning an exotic lizard/snake breeding ranch and retail outlet.
It never was successful due to a reptile dysfunction.

Sorry, could not help myself.
 
sheesh! you've either lived in Lapeer tooooo long or the roxinator has finally got to you.:eek:
or you've epoxied too many canoes back together.
 
It looks like the canoe is going away. I posted it for sale for $100 on the ads. but my stripper(chemically that is- not erotic female) has a customer. I will be glad to see it go; otherwise, I would lose money on it. It's really too good of a canoe to cut the center out of and make a 11'er, but that's where the market is. I can't believe that Chuck hasn't chimed in about bookshelves on this thread. Who knows, maybe he's in Tahiti or ??????. BTW, I've been to Lapeer. In fact, somewhere close to there is a boy scout camp with war canoes. In my stupidity I agreed to help Skippy Gibson canvas and fill two of those canoes( dumb Me).
 
If you ever have the chance to put #4 canvas on a war canoe, go to the nearest bar, get drunk, and deal with the hangover!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! don't even think about stretching #4 canvas----by hand! Now you know how dumb I really am. Gil
 
hmm

Brian Baker's brother lives here and has a couple war canoes, but not cedar/canvas. the boy scout camps are here and I know the guy who is the BSA exec. i always ask him to bolo for w/c canoes and he has never seen a w/c canoe at any of his camps. I always suspected he was lying to me. that rascal. thanks for the tip.
 
Tahiti????

Tahiti my...foot. I'm stuck in a blizzard in Central Ohio. Can't tell where the old Grumman (a friends of course) is in the back yard for all the snow. I knew that Gil Cramer, proprietor of the Wooden Canoe Chop Shop and Bookcase Co. (mission statement 'Caveat Emptor') must have had a real dog of a $50 canoe if he couldn't even cut it up for shelves. This is the same guy who tried to sell me used canoe canvas, he had some cockamamie story about how useful and valuable it is. I will send you the money soon Gil. -Chuck
 
Hey Chuck,
Well it's about time!!!! I couldn't believeeeee that it took you so long to respond to this thread. I figured that you MUST be out of the country. But anyhow, check out this scam response to a canoe advertised for only $100. Times must be tough all over.
HELLO,
AM INTERESTED IN BUYING THE BOAT YOU PLACED ON NET FORSALE.HOWEVER,I WANT TO KNOW THE BEST PRICE FOR IT AND ALSO TO KNOW IF IT'S AVAILABLE FORSALE. DO SEND THE PICS OF IT TO ME AND PLS DON'T HESITATE TO LET ME KNOW ANYTHING YOU FEEL I'D KNOW ABOUT IT.
WAITING FOR YOUR SWIFT RESPONSE.
REGARDS
He will be waiting for my quick response for a long time. BTW photos are not my forte. since some time ago I said"any canoe is worth $75" , don't expect me to send photos of a $100 canoe or a $50 canoe( whichever this is.)
Chuck, unfortunately, the fiberglass covering on this canoe came off in strips so it couldn't be reused. I tried to save it for you, but just couldn't get it to hang together. We can probably find it in the local landfill if you want. Let me know!!!!!
 
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