Shell Lake on Ebay

[Gil Cramer]

#130289261188 on ebay is a partially fiberglassed Shell lake canoe located in Not Applicable, United States. The opening bid is $100 which is probably close to its value. If you live anywhere close to Not applicable, you might want to check it out.

 

[Greg Nolan]

"not applicable" appears to be "just outside Mt. Pleasant, Michigan" according to the description. The canoe is up as a "buy it now/make an offer" listing rather than a regular eBay auction.

 

[Dave Wermuth]

I sent an email to the guy, hoping to get it this week. Only one hole. And surely no more than two broken inwales, right?

 

[Greg Nolan]

And the outwales aren't broken at all!

 

[Dave Wermuth]

Hey Gil

Thanks for the tip! I pick it up tomorrow. Looks like one good drain hole and a fair price.

does anyone know the type wood one should use for the outwales on this canoe? Somebody say spruce or ash, that's what I got.

 

[Gil Cramer]

Dave, whatever wood you have available is perfect for the outwales. Shell Lake, being a Wisconsin Co. ,probably used Philipine mahogany most of the time. There's about half a chance that the outwales were the same species of wood as the inwales. Dan's Shell Lake catalog might have the info in it. Old Town is now selling cyprus outwales because they can't get any mahogany that will bend without breaking. At least that's what someone there told me last week.

 

[chris pearson]

Ya, but does it include porcupine gnaw marks? Gotta have those..

 

[fred capenos]

Dave,

Yep,I did a Shell lake three years ago and it had the original Mahogany rails.

Loved those long brass nails into the decks. Fred

 

[Dave Wermuth]

I'll probably use the sitka. I have used cyprus and like it.
And as for the porkies. I look forward to visiting their namesake mountains in May. The Porcupine mountians are actually one fifth scale of real mountains. Chris, you should check 'em out.

 

[fred capenos]

Dave, Let me know if my private message got through. Here's the Shell lake I did. Fred

 

[Dave Wermuth]

Nice Work Fred

Are the outwales fastened with cup washers? Mine is home. Accurately advertised. And a fair price for us both. No seats or outwales. Mahog decks and inwales. I'll take photos as I go and try to post some. It is 16' and has promise. Stringers for the seats, which are absent.
Tay stuned

 

[fred capenos]

Hi Dave,

I don't recall cup washers. I do recall that the screw heads were sunk into the wood. Removing them tore out a lot of wood. Fred

 

[Dave Wermuth]

That makes sense. I had to do that recently on an old Old Town. the inwales and outwales were fastened from inside. the screws were driven in way deep and I had to use cup washers and fill the holes a little. The cup washers were left over from other parts of that great ol canoe. Screws can be set too deep easily with power tools. Power corrupts, right?

 

[chris pearson]

Fred, Very, very nice!

 

[fred capenos]

Thanks Chris, Fred

 

[Howard Caplan]

Fred,
How comfortable are those slat seats?
Howard

 

[Jpatten]

Fred,
How comfortable are those slat seats?
Howard

I have to say the seats are not very comfortable for extended paddles. I usually use a float cushion.

Fred was kind enough to put a lot of work into recanvasing it.

Dave,
If you need any specific pictures let me know or any information. The canoe is currently hanging in my garage.

Joe

 

[Dave Wermuth]

the usual question

Well, as the tips of the wales, decks, and stems are gone, I was wondering about how to put them back together. And the canoe is no longer mine. My wife looked it over and said, "I'll take this one".. So, I have to restore it, maintain it and keep it in the barn. I will be able to borrow it tho.

 

[Jpatten]

I will take some pictures of the decks for you when I get a chance.