It has been a year and a bit since I have checked in somewhat regularly with the WCHA and discussions. Being a lover of any means of vintage transportation I came around to vintage canoes about that time and joined the WCHA. The folks that answered my queries (Benson, Dan and many others) were fantastic and it wasnt long before I had committed to the purchase of three beauties from the classifieds, from a variety of States within an 8 hour drive from the Ontario border….
The selling folks were wonderful and I pressed for some favours from family and friends and we got those canoes into safe and dry storage in Ontario.
The thing is, the refurbished Canadian Canoe Museum was late in opening so I had to drag my feet and stop looking at the candy on the WCHA site until I could at least get my new old boats out of my Friend’s Ontario garage…..
Finally the stars aligned and my partner and I drove east. We live on Vancouver Island. We took a “Huron type” w/c boat with us that a newly widowed friend of my sister’s insisted I have. She had her honeymoon in that canoe on Ontario waters. We paddled it for 10 days in Killarney Park a couple of weeks ago and it paddled like a dream. It was a 3,000 mile drive to be able to dip that canoe into those waters and send my sister’s friend a photo of her honeymoon canoe, under the moonlight in the home province of her husband. She was delighted.
We have now picked up the two other canoes purchased through the WCHA website (one other sent west earlier) and are pointing west again. The museum was brilliant. The paddling here has been great. I am now allowing myself to check up on what is going on on the WCHA website and see that the members are just as kind and informative and welcoming to other newbies as they have been to me.
Once we get home, I think I will have 10 canoes. And a great deal of enthusiasm and interest in developing my steam bending, recanvassing and identification skills.
And if I can figure out a slightly easier way to get another couple of canoes home, would still like to add a couple of more styles to the ones I am making new homes for….. i expect the truck will have well more than 6,000 new miles on it as a result of bringing these beauties home. Thanks to all and there will be questions about “now how do I…” soon.
Lyle
The selling folks were wonderful and I pressed for some favours from family and friends and we got those canoes into safe and dry storage in Ontario.
The thing is, the refurbished Canadian Canoe Museum was late in opening so I had to drag my feet and stop looking at the candy on the WCHA site until I could at least get my new old boats out of my Friend’s Ontario garage…..
Finally the stars aligned and my partner and I drove east. We live on Vancouver Island. We took a “Huron type” w/c boat with us that a newly widowed friend of my sister’s insisted I have. She had her honeymoon in that canoe on Ontario waters. We paddled it for 10 days in Killarney Park a couple of weeks ago and it paddled like a dream. It was a 3,000 mile drive to be able to dip that canoe into those waters and send my sister’s friend a photo of her honeymoon canoe, under the moonlight in the home province of her husband. She was delighted.
We have now picked up the two other canoes purchased through the WCHA website (one other sent west earlier) and are pointing west again. The museum was brilliant. The paddling here has been great. I am now allowing myself to check up on what is going on on the WCHA website and see that the members are just as kind and informative and welcoming to other newbies as they have been to me.
Once we get home, I think I will have 10 canoes. And a great deal of enthusiasm and interest in developing my steam bending, recanvassing and identification skills.
And if I can figure out a slightly easier way to get another couple of canoes home, would still like to add a couple of more styles to the ones I am making new homes for….. i expect the truck will have well more than 6,000 new miles on it as a result of bringing these beauties home. Thanks to all and there will be questions about “now how do I…” soon.
Lyle
