Etienne-Henri
Curious about Wooden Canoes
Hello,
I haven’t come here for quite a long time, due to illness and job commitments, but I recently bought another canoe which I can’t clearly identify : could someone here help me ?
This red canvas canoe is supposed to be a Peterborough. The gentleman I bought this canoe from inherited it from his grandfather, whose travel notes clearly indicate he bought a Peterborough canoe in november 1935, among other french canoes he owned between 1930 and the early 1950’s. Peterborough canoes were imported in France by Charles André at that time (please see this company's 1932 add hereafter). I know a similar Peterborough (model 89X) with continuous history in France (the green canoe in the pictures below).
However, although my canoe looks like a Peterborough Pleasure without seats (!), its serial number doesn’t appear to correspond to a Peterborough : 2041 42
Could it be a Peterborough labelled Canadian Canoe Company Pleasure model #42 ?
A few things lead me to think this canoe belongs to a Canadian company :
First of all its dimensions are imperial, not metric :
Its length is 15’ exactly
Its width is 33'' 2/3
Its depth is 13’’ as far as I can measure it
It has a flat keel : 1’’ 2/3 wide by 2/3’’ thick
The ribs are 2’’ 1/3 at widest decreasing to 1’’ 2/3 at gunwales. They are chamfered down to 2’’ at widest and about 1’’ 1/2 at gunwales. Those dimensions a slightly inconsistant from one rib to another. Ribs are spaced 3’’ 1/2, which leaves about 1’ 1/3 in-between ribs, these two last measures being slightly inconsistant as well.
Secondly the wood species are very uncommon to me (I never owned an american boat before). Ribs might be white cedar while inside gunwales, decks and thwarts might be spruce, but I am not too sure. Planking however is definitely red cedar, and outside gunwales and paddling thwarts are made of ash.
Thirdly, this canoe is much lighter than my other wooden canoes, all of them being french built. It is also much lighter than my trusty OT 158 Discovery.
The decks are shaped like the green Peterborough #89X I already mentioned. Some Peterborough Pleasure we can see in old catalogs present similar decks, but this might be misleading as some french builders also made decks like these. An almond-like decal was applied to the decks, as testified by a 2’’ x 1’’ 1/3 (more or less) shadow in the varnish.
The outside gunwales are shaped like most French canoes, unlike other Peterborough canoes as far as I can say. I suspect this canoe was recanvassed at some point, as some planks are damaged while the (lightweight) canvas is in an overall good condition. Could the gunwales have been changed ? The extra keels are an obvious French addition, and made of ash as well.
The paddling thwarts were very much preferred to seats by most French paddlers. French wooden canoes were mostly produced with such thwarts as late as 1960. No evidence of seats on this canoe.
It came with three nice paddles. If this can help, the identical pair of these presents the remains of a logo made of three horizontal bands : one red band in-between two blue bands, the whole being exactly 1’’ 2/3 wide. There is some evidence of some bright yellow remaining on the red band of each paddle. This is unrecognizable to me.
The lines of this canoe are very nice, and I can’t wait going for a paddle with it, but it needs a few preventive TLC as you can see. Still, very happy with it !
Hope you could help me,
Warmest regards to all,
Etienne-Henri
I haven’t come here for quite a long time, due to illness and job commitments, but I recently bought another canoe which I can’t clearly identify : could someone here help me ?
This red canvas canoe is supposed to be a Peterborough. The gentleman I bought this canoe from inherited it from his grandfather, whose travel notes clearly indicate he bought a Peterborough canoe in november 1935, among other french canoes he owned between 1930 and the early 1950’s. Peterborough canoes were imported in France by Charles André at that time (please see this company's 1932 add hereafter). I know a similar Peterborough (model 89X) with continuous history in France (the green canoe in the pictures below).
However, although my canoe looks like a Peterborough Pleasure without seats (!), its serial number doesn’t appear to correspond to a Peterborough : 2041 42
Could it be a Peterborough labelled Canadian Canoe Company Pleasure model #42 ?
A few things lead me to think this canoe belongs to a Canadian company :
First of all its dimensions are imperial, not metric :
Its length is 15’ exactly
Its width is 33'' 2/3
Its depth is 13’’ as far as I can measure it
It has a flat keel : 1’’ 2/3 wide by 2/3’’ thick
The ribs are 2’’ 1/3 at widest decreasing to 1’’ 2/3 at gunwales. They are chamfered down to 2’’ at widest and about 1’’ 1/2 at gunwales. Those dimensions a slightly inconsistant from one rib to another. Ribs are spaced 3’’ 1/2, which leaves about 1’ 1/3 in-between ribs, these two last measures being slightly inconsistant as well.
Secondly the wood species are very uncommon to me (I never owned an american boat before). Ribs might be white cedar while inside gunwales, decks and thwarts might be spruce, but I am not too sure. Planking however is definitely red cedar, and outside gunwales and paddling thwarts are made of ash.
Thirdly, this canoe is much lighter than my other wooden canoes, all of them being french built. It is also much lighter than my trusty OT 158 Discovery.
The decks are shaped like the green Peterborough #89X I already mentioned. Some Peterborough Pleasure we can see in old catalogs present similar decks, but this might be misleading as some french builders also made decks like these. An almond-like decal was applied to the decks, as testified by a 2’’ x 1’’ 1/3 (more or less) shadow in the varnish.
The outside gunwales are shaped like most French canoes, unlike other Peterborough canoes as far as I can say. I suspect this canoe was recanvassed at some point, as some planks are damaged while the (lightweight) canvas is in an overall good condition. Could the gunwales have been changed ? The extra keels are an obvious French addition, and made of ash as well.
The paddling thwarts were very much preferred to seats by most French paddlers. French wooden canoes were mostly produced with such thwarts as late as 1960. No evidence of seats on this canoe.
It came with three nice paddles. If this can help, the identical pair of these presents the remains of a logo made of three horizontal bands : one red band in-between two blue bands, the whole being exactly 1’’ 2/3 wide. There is some evidence of some bright yellow remaining on the red band of each paddle. This is unrecognizable to me.
The lines of this canoe are very nice, and I can’t wait going for a paddle with it, but it needs a few preventive TLC as you can see. Still, very happy with it !
Hope you could help me,
Warmest regards to all,
Etienne-Henri
