100 year old cedar and canvas canoes should be treated kindly. The planking may be a bit brittle. My approach is as follows. I have several sorts of boats. I have my beautiful wood canvas boats that were built in the 1980s. They are great serviceable boats. I take them on multiway trips on rivers with moving class I water. I get in and out of them in knee deep water (no standing in them while beached, I don't want to stress their "backbone." But then I weigh 200 pounds. I pick them up when I bring them ashore and I roll them on their side so the gunnels take support the hull's pressure against the beach.
For tripping on whitewater I have two other boats. Royalex Dagger Canoes. Some of the best designs ever for whitewater paddling. I paddle consistently in class III class IV whitewater. These boats are twenty years old. I get in and out of them in knee-deep water. I carry them up on the shore. I turn them over on their gunnels to protect the boat as it lies on its side. I don't want to stress their backbones either.
I also have an old town Tripper, in Royalex, I purchased for three hundred dollars a few years ago. I take my children tripping on weeklong trips on moving water in this boat. II sometimes attach a motor to it and carry a mountain of gear on multiway trips. I also take it for day trips with novices on class II white water.
My point is. I think it is stupid to spend a thousand, or two or three thousand, or more on a cedar and canvas canoe and not take care of it. I've spent like 100 hours in restoring two cedar canvas boats this year. I plan to use them kindly. And save my beater boats for whacking rocks in class II, class III and up whitewater. My three cents on this one.
