18' Chestnut

piedog70

Rob P
I have an 18 foot Chestnut canoe that I acquired in the early 1990's and restored it shortly afterwards. I believe it is a Voyageur from the Prospector series but I am no authority. Out of interest, I would like a more definitive identification and have posted to this forum for some help.

The previous owner attempted to restore it but did not get far into the project. The gunnels were removed and discarded, but a short section of the inwale at the stern was saved and it appears to be slightly tapered. The decks were removed and saved. One deck has the Chestnut decal. There was no keel, but screw holes along the bottom of the hull indicate there was a keel. The holes are offset on each side of the center line, implying a shoe keel. The slat seats are ash. There are 3 thwarts. I think the 2 shorter ones are birch, but could be maple. The middle one is ash.

Dimensions are as follows:
Length: 18'
Beam: 35-1/2" (measured between inside planking)
Depth at bow: 20" (not sure how this is measured)
Depth at beam: 15-1/4" (measured from inside planking to top of ribs)
Rib width" 2-3/8"
Rib spacing: 2"
Planking width: 4"
Cant rib width: 4"

Serial number: 46 53355

The previous owner did not recall from whom he purchased the boat. Some clue to the boat's provenance may be that both decks and the middle thwart are stamped with "CAMP ADANAC" into the wood. I have by no means run an exhaustive internet search for Camp Adanac (which I think is "CANADA" spelled backwards), but there are many hits for a place in Temagami Ontario that has since closed. Perhaps other readers could supply some information on this.
 

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Last edited:
Not sure if you were able to source more info since your post.

Believe the Camp Adanac where this canoe came from is not the modern fishing camp based in Temagami, but rather the Private Boys Camp established on Manitoulin Island in 1930 by Richard Tappenden of Cleveland, Ohio. You can see an archived webpage of the camp from 2004 on WayBack Machine at the folllowing link:
https://web.archive.org/web/20040607061631/http://campadanac.com/aboutadanac.html

They shut down in 2006 and the property was subsequently purchased by a corporate group that planned to turn the location into a fish hatchery. Not sure if this happened. More details here

I happened to find some photographic slides from the camp dated to the '70s on Worthpoint. One image shows wood canvas canoes being used in the background...

Adanac - 1970s - Manitoulin - Capture.JPG


Adanac - 1970s - Manitoulin - Capture2.JPG


Adanac - 1970s - Manitoulin - Capture3.JPG



The remnant Chestnut decal on the deck is consistent with the 1960s era when there were subtle changes to the text layout. By the 1970's most decals had a distinct square shaped vinyl transparent border and a slightly different colour scheme.
 
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