Hi Folks,
I am new here, as mentioned in my greetings post, I have an old canvas/wood canoe that belonged to my grandfather. It has been long neglected, but it is my hope that it's not beyond repair. My grandfather has long passed now, but there are a lot of memories in this canoe.
After posting the other day, and scoping out this forum, I went to where the canoe currently rests and did some poking around.
I found the serial plate, and the remains of the manufacture sticker. I discovered that the canoe is a Lakefield Tecumesth, according to a further search (thanks to these forums) I believe it was made in 1966.
The wood is "popcorn dry" (learned that term here). It's pretty sad. The old "cat gut" (this is what my grandfather called them) seats are mostly intact. The keel has been poorly replaced with a chunk of plastic or cintra. Same with the gunnels.
It appears that most of the ribs are still in good shape, but a couple have suffered rot at the keel point. A couple of the planks are also rotted out, but most are present, if dry.
So, my question to this forum, as I am completely new to this, is ... where do I start? There is so much going on here, I'm a bit overwhelmed and trying to figure out a starting point.
I hope my pics will attach.
I am new here, as mentioned in my greetings post, I have an old canvas/wood canoe that belonged to my grandfather. It has been long neglected, but it is my hope that it's not beyond repair. My grandfather has long passed now, but there are a lot of memories in this canoe.
After posting the other day, and scoping out this forum, I went to where the canoe currently rests and did some poking around.
I found the serial plate, and the remains of the manufacture sticker. I discovered that the canoe is a Lakefield Tecumesth, according to a further search (thanks to these forums) I believe it was made in 1966.
The wood is "popcorn dry" (learned that term here). It's pretty sad. The old "cat gut" (this is what my grandfather called them) seats are mostly intact. The keel has been poorly replaced with a chunk of plastic or cintra. Same with the gunnels.
It appears that most of the ribs are still in good shape, but a couple have suffered rot at the keel point. A couple of the planks are also rotted out, but most are present, if dry.
So, my question to this forum, as I am completely new to this, is ... where do I start? There is so much going on here, I'm a bit overwhelmed and trying to figure out a starting point.
I hope my pics will attach.
