Best Girlfriend in the World!

[Claude Delisle]

Get this. My girlfriend found an ad online, drove 1 1/2 hours, negotiated and bought a canoe, loaded it onto her Rav 4, drove back the 1 1/2 hours and surprised me with this! I always knew she was wonderful, but this just beats it all.

What we have here is, well, I'm not positive. 16 'long, beam 34" at gunnel, 35 1/2" at it's widest. Depth 13 3/4" to the planking. ribs 1 1/2" wide and 1 1/2" spacing. thwarts 3/4" thick 2 1/2" wide. Seats were just laced with some cordage, a more recent 'upgrade'. Stem is stamped with a serial number starting with a 'C'. It has minimal rocker and a shoe keel. Actually it has two keels. one was added on top of the shoe keel. another recent 'upgrade'. The planking is 3 7/8" wide.

From the serial number, I figure it's a Chestnut. But can't find anything that meets the measurements.

Was the PAL available with a deeper depth? If so, all the other fingers point there.

Not sure how the first picture ended upside down. lol Please excuse the background clutter. I'm using an old pig barn for a shop, and well, that project to fix it up is slower than some of my canoe projects.

Claude

 

[MackyM]

How many bolts in the thwart?

 

[Claude Delisle]

There are 2 bolts used on each end of the centre thwart and a single bolt on the quarter thwart.

I've also noticed that the stock used for the thwarts is quite flat on top. It looks like they used 3/4 dimensioned wood for them. Also, the centre thwart has a very shallow hollow taken out of the centre bow side, like they were trying to make a bit of a portage yoke. I'm suspicious that these thwarts have been replaced at some point. possibly during a previous restore. The screws used for the thwarts are blade, but all the gunwale screws are Robertson (square).

 

[davelanthier]

Hi Macky and Claude. Wish I had a lady like that. All mine does is give me a bad time when I bring another canoe home.
Yours is a 16' Chestnut canoe which appears to be their lesser grade that was sold through Eatons or the HBC. They had serial numbers but usually no Chestnut decals. The thwarts were vey basic, no contours. It seems they were built on old Pal and Prospector forms using 1.5" ribs. The exterior width is the same on both at 36" with the Pal style at 12" depth and the Prospector approx. 14" depth. I have mentioned these in past threads and consider the Prospector as a real find due to the fact it is 5 pounds lighter than the standard Chestnuts with 2.25" ribs. Weight becomes very important as the years pass. Due to tumblehome the Pal thwarts are longer than the Prospector model. Hull dimensions change so your measurements could be applicable to either model. I will get the thwart lengths later today for you. Cheers, Dave.

 

[davelanthier]

In the past I have tried to fit 16' Chestnut Prospector thwarts to Pals only to find they were too short, especially the center thwart. With a little trimming the Pal thwarts were easily adaptable to the 16' Prospectors. Today I took some measurements as I have a few Pals and Prospectors on hand. Over the years the Chestnut thwarts became cruder but once in awhile they would come with nice Birds Eye Maple thwarts, These could be saved for that special canoe. Any way, here's what I found. The Pal thwarts I have are 29 3/4" and 33 1/2". The Prospector thwarts I have are 29 1/2" and 32 1/2". Hope this helps to decide which form your canoe was built on.

 

[Claude Delisle]

Thank you so much. I just measured mine and got 33 1/4" for the centre thwart. The quarter thwart measured 29 7/8 on the wider side and 29 1/2 on the narrow side. (cut is tapered) I would have to assume it came off a Pal form, which would make sense with the amount of rocker I'm seeing. Or rather lack of it.

Does it make sense that the depth is almost 14" though?

 

[davelanthier]

Sounds right since your depth is 13.5". With age wood canvas canoes will often tend to lessen in width and their bottoms will round out increasing the depth. This, I believe, is caused by the built up tension or memory remaining in the ribs when they were originally bent. This canoe should weigh only about 65 pounds. Nice gift! Treat her [ the girl friend ] right.

 

[Claude Delisle]

Thanks for the info. And yes, I will treat her right. (the girlfriend)

 

[Claude Delisle]

I just weighed it. Came in at 77 pounds. Does that make sense?

 

[pklonowski]

I have a 16' Royalex canoe that weighs 10lbs less. But it's not as nice to look at.

 

[davelanthier]

If memory serves me right Chestnut brochures of different years will state that the Pal weighs 68 or 72 pounds. The 16' Prospector pointed end model is noted to be 75lbs. To further confuse the issue in some years they listed the Deer model which was the same as the Pal except the Deer had 1 1/2" ribs and the Pal had 2 3/8" ribs. But then there were years they only had the Pal model which had, you guessed it, 1 1/2" ribs. So depending on the year the canoe was built it could be a Deer or a Pal if it has 1 1/2" ribs but it can't be a Deer if it has 2 3/8" ribs. Make sense?
Many factors can contribute to added weight: your scale isn't accurate ?, many layers of paint, canoe was holding moisture, fiberglass rather than canvas exterior, the materials Chestnut used to construct - they used many different woods species. A freshly restored canoe will weigh less. The Pal I use has Ash inwales, decks, thwarts, #10 canvas and synthetic filler which all help for it's 65 lbs. weight.

 

[Splinter]

Man, I want to date her.
Oh wait, I'm already married to Paul.
Ooops!