Northland Canoes

[montrealBob]

Hi everyone,

I have just found this site, and am thrilled to find so much useful information. I am hoping someone here can provide me a bit of general info regarding my boat. First, a story:

While working at a summer resort about ten years ago, I met an elderly man who had been coming to the resort for many years. He alone among the guests would bring his own canoe. He preferred his 15' cedar stripper to the loud aluminum Grummans available for rent. As the supervisor of the marina area, I took great interest in this man's boat, and borrowed it for a couple of wonderful evening paddles, at his suggestion. Unfortunately, due to a reduction in mobility due to his advancing years, the guest only came down to paddle his boat once, and then only for a short half hour. At the end of the week, he came down to the week and told me that he had been finding it harder to paddle his last few years, and that for tradition's sake, he would bring it up to the resort and take it out for a paddle, but that this was the only time he would get out anymore. He had been thinking of selling his boat, but couldn't bring himself to do it, since he had bought the canoe new some thirty years earlier, and had loved it greatly. Having met me and my wife, who also worked there and was, like me, a young outdoors enthusiast, he felt that he had found people who would appreciate his boat as much as he had. Knowing we were poor university students, he offered to sell it to us for $400, and we immediately agreed (he later tried to reduce the price, having felt guilty for taking money from young students, but we refused). We felt very honoured and excited - both to be acquiring our first canoe, and to have inherited a proud history from this man. We cherish this boat still, and are now teaching our own kids to paddle it.

It has come to a time where I am going to have to do some restoration work on the boat - the gunwales and keel are looking a little beaten up, there are a couple of spots where the glass finish has broken down and needs to be patched, and there are a large number of ugly patches where the white weave of the patches is obvious. It is still in beautiful shape and feels wonderful on the water. I'll certainly check the forums for tips when I undertake this project.

My question, though, is around its manufacture. It has a manufacturer's stamp on it from Northlands Canoe in Huntsville, ON. I haven't been able to get much information about this manufacturer. Does anyone know anything about them? Are they still in business? Have they been making canoes for a long time? Does the age of the canoe fit with when they were in business (early 1960s)? Any more info would be much appreciated.

I look forward to hearing your suggestions, and will also look forward to testing people's knowledge when it comes time to start restoration.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[Dan Miller]

Here is a little bit...

http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/mic_detail.aspx?id=ZNU

Cheers,
Dan

 

[Dick Persson]

Hi Bob,
Northland Canoes is still in business, although today only as one man shop doing mostly repairs. At one time the company produced up to 200 canoes per year. A fire destroyed the company and its assets in 1995. The owner A. Maw started out as a canoe builder in 1956.
Cheers
Dick Persson

 

[montrealBob]

Thanks Dan, Thanks Dick.

I'm sorry to hear about the operation being wiped out, but am glad for the information.

Best,

Bob

 

[Shane]

Northland 1967

Bob, I am just at the moment in the process of personally redoing the woven rawhide seats in my Northland. My brother and I each purchased one in Huntsville in 1967. I still have the original literature and price list. We ordered 15 footers, clear, with carry yokes. Price was about $200 each. We ran across the canoe company as a result of encountering a couple of guys in Algonquin hell and gone on some remote lake (we often canoed that area). They had a small 12 footer as I recall — really light, much ligher than our Grummans. It was the first we had ever seen a cedar/fiberglass canoe. On the way home, we stopped in Huntsville and ordered two ($50 each deposit). The two fellows who built them, according to their story, were interesting. One was a trapper and one a RAF retired. They even did their own rawhide from scratch. My brother recently sold his. Ours is like new and will see many more years of use. It was a blessing on long portages in Algonquin. Back then, you could canoe the more remote areas of the park for a week at a time and not see another person. Many fond memories.

 

[Shane]

Northland Still in Business

My earlier post and some questions about redoing the woven leather seats prompted me to go looking. Turns out Mr. Albert Maw is still making Northland canoes. I talked to him just yesterday. His business is at 67 Maw Hill road, NOVAR, Ontario, POA 1RO. His phone is 705-789-2481. He's a very friendly gentleman and willingly gave me advice with regard to maintaining my Northland. In particular, he noted that the keel must be removed after a number of years and recaulked with good quality house type sealant used around windows, etc. The exterior can be redone with either spar varnish or another coat of resin that is used with fiberglass — just lightly sand and brush it on. The woven leather seats require true raw rawhide (nt tanned) leather. Wet it and pull it tight. Then let it dry and shrink tight. Coat it with varnish, like snowshoes.

 

[montrealBob]

Wow, Shane, thanks! I will definitely get in touch with Mr. Maw this summer. What you say about the keel is certainly evident on my boat. I think I'll have to give it a sanding, and then recoat it with spar varnish and reseal. Maybe by sanding down a little bit on the patches where the weave of the fibreglass is evident, I can then reseal with resin and maybe make them less obvious... wow, so many questions for him.

Thanks also for your story about your boat. Great stuff.