MY PAL AND HIS TEDDY

Nick Dennis

WCHA UK
Sam and I agreed to have a Tuesday morning paddle. The chosen venue was the upper River Bure at Belaugh from where we could paddle upstream through Coltishall to Horstead Mill and then return with the flow. I left home with a frost on the ground, clear skies and sunshine but by the time I arrived at Belaugh it was grey, overcast with a slight drizzle. The previous night had been mostly clear and cold and like many I had spent most of the night down the end of the garden with my camera hoping for a glimpse of the Norther Lights. All I got was cold and a sighting of the neon illumination above the Chinese restaurant 8 miles north of home!

Sam said he wanted to bring his Teddy; a strange request from a gent of his age but if he wanted a furry comforter for the day, sobeit.

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The Teddy was in fact a Chestnut from the very early 1900's which Sam had won in an auction in Eire the previous week. It is the canoe paddled by Eleanor Barnes and featured in her book "As The Water Flows" a record of adventures in a canoe on the rivers and trout streams of southern England. The book was published in 1920. Here atop my Stewart River designed 16' Pal the Teddy is tiny.

Tape had been applied to the aged canvas and Sam armed with a sponge and bailer and me a camera we set off upstream.

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Teddy was taking on some water but it was manageable and at our turnaround point some bailing was required.
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We returned down the mill leet where the banks were still smothered with Snowdrops but whilst thought of as a sign of spring, a chill in the air reminded us that winter was hanging in there.

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To be continued
 
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The journey back was easier with the flow and the rate at which Teddy was taking on water was slowing but this would be the only opportunity I would have to see Teddy in his original suit as the strip down starts tomorrow.

Some details:-

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and some gratuitous shots of my Pal
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We made it back safely after a few hours on the water. I left all my Chestnut books with Sam and I am sure he will add to this as he learns more about the canoe and moves forward with the restoration.

Now to thaw out with a cup of tea !

Nick
 
Very interesting to see the chamfered rib top!
I have never seen that before, even though I come from the land of Chestnuts.
Sam; Can you see if the gunnels are pocketed?
 
No matter what I told Nick, I started to take it apart this afternoon.

Rob, I don't think they are, but haven't specially looked. They could be, as you can't see the rib tops from the top now the caps aren't there, but I think I remember feeling gaps between the gunnel and planks between the ribs when I was looking for evidence of seats. I've locked up for the evening now, but will check tomorrow.

The stem bands are D section brass fixed with slotted screws. They finish at the top of the stem, not turning over onto the decks. There is no sign of them having been cut at any time. Should closed gunnel Chestnuts have stem bands that turn over the rail caps? - I don’t think so!

The keel screws were steel and well rusted. They may have replaced earlier screws as brass washers were still there. The keel was the source of leakage; It had some mastic of some sort along the edges but which had given up keeping water out. The wood was quite soft in places and broke apart easily. Getting the screws out without damaging the ribs will take some care.

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The rail caps show no sign of being replaced. They were fastened with 1” copper nails. The side caps were fastened at each rib. They don’t look in too bad shape, and if I can, I’ll reuse them. One top rail has a split, but I can probably epoxy that. No other nail holes present. No idea where I’ll find replacement nails here in the UK. The nearest I’ve found so far are 1”x 16swg square copper boat nails, or bronze ring nails. The boat nails sound better to me as at sometime in the future they should be able to be disassembled.

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Tomorrow, the canvas will be off and I’ll be able to see the stem tip. From feeling up and under the deck, I can feel that the planks are cut out right at the tip, so I’m confident it has the old form of stem.

Sam
 
Very interesting to see the chamfered rib top!
I have never seen that before, even though I come from the land of Chestnuts.
Sam; Can you see if the gunnels are pocketed?

Rob now i know you dont always pay attention to my early Chestnut lectures. Rib tops are chamfered down super thin and nailed to rails, no pockets as with Morris. Makes for fun restorations, what with steel fasteners sprinkled about and all...

Sam, wonderful pics on the river!
 
Sam, stembands do indeed fold over caps, albeit for a very short run. Can get you a picture at some time if you like
 
Andre - Complement Nick on the pictures: I always take new boats out with him because he takes good photos!

Yes please to photos of the stems.
From what I can see so far, I'll not need to look at the rib tops as all the wood around there seems in great condition.

Sam
 
Sam, stembands do indeed fold over caps, albeit for a very short run. Can get you a picture at some time if you like
If you could please get me a picture, that would be very useful. I'll be shopping for new stem band next week
thanks.
Sam
 
Sam,
Do the gunwale caps taper as they approach the ends? Hard to see in the pictures. It always seemed to me that gunwale caps and side caps look better if they taper from their full width of say 7/8" to say 5/8" where they meet at the stem. It's purely aesthetics. It takes planning ahead if tapered caps are wanted so that the canvas fasteners are high enough to be covered by the narrower side cap. Maybe Chestnut left them full width to save time and money. Cool canoe.
Jim C.
 
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