romeolimac
New Member
I have a sponson canoe the provenance of which is a mystery to me. I have done some research and am led to wonder if it is a Kennebec. As can be seen it has closed gunwhales. There is no serial number on the stem. It is a 17 foot beauty, and I would very much appreciate any thoughts on where and when it was built, and how it might have made its way to Northern Ontario in the early years of the last century.
This canoe is quite old; my first recollections of it were some 70 years ago when it was owned by my uncle on the north shore of Lake Superior in a little summer settlement in Ontario called Silver Islet where I spent my childhood summers. My great aunt had an identical canoe which she passed on to someone in or around 1965. This one remained at Silver Islet and languished in disuse and neglect until I saw it in 1990 and purchased it with an eye to restoration and use.
It had a number of broken ribs, a number of planks were broken, and one stem as well as both decks were rotten. I did some of the initial restoration work, stripping the canvas and the interior, which had been painted. I then put it in the hands of a shipwright who completed the restoration of the wood portions. Finally I took it to a canoe restorer who applied canvas and caned the seats. At that point I did the finishing varnishing and painting.
I would very much appreciate any thoughts on what manufacturer built this canoe, and when.
This canoe is quite old; my first recollections of it were some 70 years ago when it was owned by my uncle on the north shore of Lake Superior in a little summer settlement in Ontario called Silver Islet where I spent my childhood summers. My great aunt had an identical canoe which she passed on to someone in or around 1965. This one remained at Silver Islet and languished in disuse and neglect until I saw it in 1990 and purchased it with an eye to restoration and use.
It had a number of broken ribs, a number of planks were broken, and one stem as well as both decks were rotten. I did some of the initial restoration work, stripping the canvas and the interior, which had been painted. I then put it in the hands of a shipwright who completed the restoration of the wood portions. Finally I took it to a canoe restorer who applied canvas and caned the seats. At that point I did the finishing varnishing and painting.
I would very much appreciate any thoughts on what manufacturer built this canoe, and when.
