Peterborough Floatwell

[rbudge]

I have just begun the process of getting one of these back in the water. It appears to need very little work, replace rotten stem/ gunwale connections, fix one broken spot in the inner gunwale, fix a few bubbles in the planking. With the help of some good people at the Facebook Peterborough canoe page, I have determined that the canoe was built sometime between 1940 and 1943.
It's a sponson canoe and I have the sponson forms but I have no intention of fitting them back on the canoe. I'm looking forward to having a canoe on the water that''s only 30" wide at the gunwales. I am guessing that, paddling solo with the thing heeled over as far as it will go, the waterline breadth might be down around 20".
That will give me a good chance of maintaining my claim to never having allowed a plastic kayak to pass me - though I am well into my 70's now.

 

[MGC]

That will give me a good chance of maintaining my claim to never having allowed a plastic kayak to pass me - though I am well into my 70's now.

Amen about those pickle barrels. I wonder how it would feel to be passed by a stand up board?
I think the first time I was passed in a race by a modern canoe was in 1970. Sawyer? It was a bit demoralizing. A wooden canoe is heavier at the finish of a race, the opposite of ideal. After that and as races began to offer more categories, we made it our goal to not allow glass canoes to pass us in the "standard" class. Wooden canoes had been relegated. When we raced in the 90's, Kevlar was kicking our butts.
It has also been my goal to pass and never be passed by recumbent cycles. It's not as easy as one might think. Those damned things are fast depending of course on the rider.
And when I had the Sprite, it was essential to pass Miata's...a Japanese swipe at British motors that started, ran, never leaked oil and never needed a hammer to beat the stuck fuel pump points into submission.
On my Triumphs I quickly learned that smoke belching Kawasaki's were wicked fast and my far more elegant and sweet-sounding rides were not match.
I still pass Miata's with contempt. Ferdinand does it better.

 

[rbudge]

I almost think that reads like a challenge.
On the road, I'm the meek, mild, polite, driver in the old Ford Ranger, absolutely no threat, but on the water with a paddle in my hands - it's grim determination to leave you rocking in my wake.