Courting canoe construction

Michael Grace

Lifetime Member
I am working on a Charles River courting canoe that I believe to be either Robertson or Waltham. I believe it is fairly early because (1) it has white cedar planking and (2) planking is fastened with oval-headed copper tacks. This canoe has 52" decks with a very low crown, and the decks are mortised into the inwales. Full length caps run outside and top. Thwarts are 5" wide, only 9/16" thick, and have very sharp edges. End profiles of the canoe are circular, not torpedo.

"It's in great shape but"...while ribs, planking, stems are all fine, the tips of the wales had some damage. I am wondering whether the wales ran past the outside stems or not. In early Robertson and Waltham catalogs, the cuts show canoes apparently with wales running out past the stems (see attached images), though it is unclear whether outside stems are shown. I see the same in old Charles River picture postcards of similar canoes. Does anyone have a canoe of this type, or has anyone seen an actual Charles River canoe with inwales running past the stems?

Thanks for your help, and thanks for all the help from those I've spoken with directly.

Michael
 

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