Is this an all-wood boat?

[Brad Fisher]

A friend has asked me to help restore this unidentified boat. It has Old Town “ogee” decks, narrow planks, external stems, and half-round ribs. No stem number that I could find. No canvas, and he says it has never had canvas. The deckplate says “Canadian Canoe, Evansburg, CA”, or something like that, which he says is a precursor to Old town. Is it in fact a hundred-year-old pre-canvas boat? Where can I find out more about it? Thanks!

 

[John Sand]

It looks like other all wood canoes that I have seen advertised. Narrow planks and half round narrow ribs. Cool.

 

[Benson Gray]

My guess is that you may have a Nipigon model from the Canadian Canoe Company in Peterborough, Ontario. See page 6 in their 1950 catalog at https://woodencanoemuseum.org/manufacturer-catalog/canadian-canoe-company-1950 for more details. The page at https://woodencanoemuseum.org/builder-history/canadian-canoe-company has more information about the company. I'm not aware of any connection between the Canadian Canoe Company and the Old Town Canoe Company. Can you provide a better image showing the deck decal? Good luck with the restoration,

Benson

 

[Brad Fisher]

Thanks Benson! I'll post better photos when I get the boat into my shop. The one above that shows the deck (upside down) actually does have a deck plate in it, very faint. It has the shield shape that suggest it's a Canadian.

 

[Gary]

Hi Brad, I agree with Benson's assessment of it being a Canadian Canoe Co. canoe and as such it would not have been canvased. Below is their decal should you wish to see if it matches?
Hope you'll post pictures as it will be a beautiful canoe!

 

[Brad Fisher]

Thanks. I “wood” appreciate any tips and/or experience restoring a boat like this. I’ve only done wood/canvas. I’d love to hear horror stories and mistakes to avoid.

Thanks!

 

[Nick Dennis]

Having done a cedar rib my general advice is to be kind and gentle with the canoe. What you don’t want to do is sand the tack heads down. Hand sand is best and probably safes.
Geoffrey Burkes “boat soup“ application will also help prior to varnish, varnish and oh,more varnish.

Do post more photos. Put some life and rich colour back into what looks like a lovely canoe.

 

[Brad Fisher]

I have it in my shop now, and it’s definitely a Canadian. There’s a better photo of the deck attached. I’m not sure of the age … couldn’t find a number on it. You’ll see that the owner has done a lot of sanding already, but gave up on the interior. Should I pick up sanding where he left off, or use a chemical stripper? Also, there are a few broken planks that have been fixed with screws and a backing plug. I’m assuming rebuilding these means sourcing new lapped planks. Any trick to installing them, or is it pretty much like a wood/canvas job?

Outwale profile


Stem band repair


Interesting scarf joints. They’re the same all around. I think maybe not a repair, but original, like the builder ran out of outwale?


Stems in pretty good shape.


Partially sanded interior. How best to finish off? Or just wash it down, seal with boat soup and varnish it to death? Note the repair on the right, backing a cracked plank.



Test varnish patch.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Hello Brad,
happy to have some conversations about your all wood, if you are interested. PM me if you would like to go over some aspects of them and their restoration and repair,
cheers,
Andre

 

[Brad Fisher]

Can't believe it's been over a year since did anything with this boat. In my defense, I had hip surgery in October. Anyhow, I've finally finished stripping the interior. Next step is to clean up the outside and patch a few holes.

I'm worried about leaks. In addition to the plank joints, this boat leaks through the front 1/3 of the keel. I don't want to remove the keel ... not interested in tearing this fragile craft apart. Do you guys think boat soup will fix it? What about caulking along the keel from the outside? Photos coming soon.

 

[Dave Osborn]

Brad
I looked through your photos and didn’t see the keel, so I can’t comment on the fragility.
However, if it is so fragile that you fear removing it, it probably should be replaced.
I would advise against caulk. If it’s already leaking there is a good chance there is unseen rot in the keel. I’ve seen that several times. One off the boat you can assess it for damage and possibly repair it. In my opinion, you should remove it and bed it properly.
I’ve never used boat soup, but I’ve heard good things.

 

[samb]

A keel is not hard to replace - it is screwed from the out side. Yours look to just butt up with the stems so they can stay in place.

You should also read Mike Elliotts 'This Fancy Old Canoe' (not just because it has contributions by me) but because it has useful advice on various parts of all wood boats.
I don't remember what he says about Boat soup

but the stuff works if you have the patience to get enough on. The thin mixture gets into every little gap.

 

[shelldrake]

Are the planks lapped? Glued? Caulked in some way? What keeps a hull like this from leaking like a sieve?

 

[samb]

Each plank is lapped over its neighbour and nailed through the lap at each rib. Each lap gets a coat of varnish as it goes together which helps seal the joint. It needs a lot of nails which all need dubbing over when it comes off the mould.