Earliest E.M White?

[1905Gerrish]

A few photos of my 2025 restoration of this early 18'6" E.M White. Featured in the Fall 2025 edition of Wooden Canoe. Photo #5 depicts Judy, (previous owner) and me. Judy's father, Mac, (previous owner) guided the canoe in Maine waters in the 40's and 50's. Noted early build characteristics include the leather wrapped rail tips, canvas seat, mortised unique thwarts, narrow decks, paint color, painted stem bands, positioned half ribs, extreme tumblehome and lack of builder's placard.

Zack

 

[dtdcanoes]

GEEZ , ZACK..........A " KILLER FROM MANILLA " phew. The thwaats are a piece of art in themselves. And the leather tips are really the type that indeed protect the whole tip. I used them on my later woodsman. Yours are so nicely fit like a glove. Were the stems painted originally ?
Dave

 

[1905Gerrish]

Yes Dave, the bands were painted over originally. A common practice of the early ones as I've found a handful of photos depicting. The leather caps were fun to reproduce. Luckily I got a dozen photos from both ends of another White that showed the process used in the assembly. I made a paper template first in construction. They came out well with a bit of wax as finish.

Z

 

[lowangle al]

That boat is a beauty. I hope you paddle it solo from that stern seat. I've been doing that in my big tandems for a while. It works great in my 18' OT Guide and my 20' EM White, among others. I started out kneeling until I got confidence and realized that there was still solid secondary stability from that position. Now I mostly paddle seated with about 25lbs of ballast in front. The boat is surprisingly maneuverable and carvable with a very bow light trim. In fact, they carve so well that way that I have been able to eliminate the need for correction strokes.