Chestnut Playmate / Peterborough Mermaid overlap?

[Murat V]

Excited to pick up another WC canoe this weekend. She was advertised as a 14' Chestnut. The stars aligned and I had access to the car this weekend to run a quick trip out of town and see it in person.

Width is 30" outwale to outwale, depth is 13" at centre thwart. Narrow 1-1/2" ribs nicely rounded with 1-1/2" spacing. Brass stembands not aluminum. No visible restoration work on the ribs or planking or stems. Looks like it was stored well because the ends look pretty good too. The outwales are oak I think and have scarf joints that are just coming apart where the glue has failed over time. A chunk of the outwale has been broken off or maybe chewed by a critter? Same for a small piece of the inwale.

scarfed outwale

broken chunck of outwale

chunk out of the inwale


Not sure if the seats are original but they do look aged and match the boat. The ends of the seat cane are pushed through the holes and projecting roughly on the underside. Stern seat has two brass carriage bolts with square nuts and two new looking steel wood bolts with hex nuts. Bow seat has new 4 steel bolts too. But the thwart is secured with original looking brass and square nuts.

The paint on the canvas is heavily cracked and it looks like it's only been one colour for the life of the canvas - red. Took off a few paint chips and the filler is still pretty decent. I might just gently scrape & sand and slap on a some primer and paint just to get a season out of her before attempting to recanvas.

Chestnut decal looks original to my amateur eyes so thought this was a narrow ribbed Chestnut Playmate. When I got to the seller's place, noticed a non-Chestnut looking serial number stamped on the stem: 1814 5453. First part looks like Peterborough code. Found out that the 1814 is the model number for the 14' Mermaid. Think these are pretty much identical boats, correct? Given the overlap with the companies, I guess it's not so weird to have a Peterborough code with a Chesnut decal... I guess this is a Peternut Mermate?

Closeup of Code...

Perhaps the experts could chime in. Peterborough stopped production in '61-'62, correct? If this is stamped with a Mermaid code I guess it would date to no later than that date. Or did Chestnut continue to use the Mermaid Code on stems after '61 for their 14 ft Playmate model?

 

[Craig Johnson]

Nice find Murat. I have been looking for one myself, asked Andre to keep an eye out for one for me. Andy Hutyera just finished a mermaid and another chapter member has what may be a playmate. We were comparing them. Maybe Mark or Andy will chime in with what they figured out.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Looks like it started out as a Peterborough product, but business needs demanded it fill a Chestnut order. Nicely aged boat though, and a little later with the thin ribs. Kool find. Wins award for most creative use of woven seat cane!

 

[Jan Bloom]

I had a Playmate, very heavy for it size. I believe that it was a late one as it was a bit crude. Thick ribs and poorly scarfed outwales. I will say this it was a very stable little boat, never rolled out of it. But darn was it heavy for its size. Over 60 lbs!

 

[Murat V]

Thanks all.

Craig: Would be nice to see more about the chapter restoration by Andy and Mark. If I spot another, I'll give you and Andre the heads up - although Andre seems to be the master at finding all the worthy boats in our region.

Andre's comment on the whole Peterborough code but Chestnut decal makes perfect logical sense. Suppose there's no way of knowing if this was built locally in Peterborough or built in Fredericton on their forms and then stamped?

Jan: Read some of your previous threads on your Playmate and how heavy it seemed. I'll weigh this one tomorrow, but it sure doesn't feel like 60+lbs range...although I have been eating more spinach lately.

 

[Jan Bloom]

I tried spinach and all the other get strong foods, in the end I sold it. I am happy with its replacement that I built which is a bit crude in its own way is less than 50 lbs.

 

[Mark Z.]

At the Gifford Pinchot Mini Assembly there were two similar canoes. One had narrow ribs and one had the standard wide ribs. Both were 14 feet long and 30 inches wide at the gunwales. Both had tumblehome which was not measured. One without seats weighed 56 pounds and the other with tandem seats weighed 60.8 pounds. I do not remember which canoe had the narrow ribs and which had the wide ribs. Andy's canoe, without seats, weighed the 56 pounds. Perhaps he can respond as to whether his canoe had the wide ribs or not. Both had been restored.
Mark Z.

 

[Jan Bloom]

Mine had thick wide ribs and tandem seats.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Thanks Murat,
found a Rice Lake finally, been looking for a year! What about a day trip later this month before it snows, maybe up to Thomsons Cairn?

 

[MGC]

found a Rice Lake finally, been looking for a year!

Nice find Andre...although it seems to be missing a 3/4" in hole through that deck. Better yet, that aluminum should be strong enough to allow you to thread an eyebolt directly into it.
I can lend you the appropriate tap drill and tap if you need them.. I think I may also have a nice sharp metal drill if you opt for the holes instead. Inch or Metric. Do let me know....

Mike

 

[Andre Cloutier]

I was going to tig weld a big lifting eye on each deck , or maybe those ashtray airplanes that lite up ...

 

[Nick Dennis]

I found a Playmate over here in the UK. Investigations of previous owners puts it as an early 1950's model as it came with its Canadian owner, to the UK in 1960. A lovely canoe. I converted it to a solo. It was suggested on one canoeing forum that she was one of the most coveted canoes in the UK. I do have an issue with the shoe keel which took a bash which broke the seal.

 

[Murat V]

Andre. Thought you already had a Rice Lake earlier? They sure look pretty distinctive with those decks. Have you seen this online Rice Lake catalog (circa 1900)...
https://archive.org/stream/ricelakecanoecat00rice#page/n0/mode/2up

Blott: Saw your Playmate a few times on the SongofthePaddle forum. Wonderful paint job and restoration. Nice that yours came with those classy heart decks. Not of fan of keels myself. When it gets recanvassed, I'm not sure the shoe keel will go back on.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Murat, thanks for that I have that catalog, it is before the era that produced the aluminum decks. Yes i had one, but sold it in a weak moment...