Charles River
Hi Neil:
Yes, the easy answer is that your canoe is a "courting canoe" most likely from the Charles River area.
Discriminating between and among the many builders in the area is much more difficult. We had a Charles River builder theme at Assembly a few years ago and many of these boats showed up. Even with the boats sitting side by side on the grass, identifying builders without an obvious tag or stamp was very difficult.
Your canoe is missing seats/thwarts which can sometimes help narrow the field. If I had to guess, your canoe might be a Robertson, Arnold, or Waltham. If the serial number is sequential, it would suggest one of the more prolific builders. The stem profile reminds me of Arnold. The planking and tacking pattern is like Robertson.
Fitz.
