Thanks for Help on A. Templeton Repairs

[Chip]

I want to thank all the contributors to this forum for all the useful information, instructions, suggestions, and techniques you provided that helped Steve and I repair the Arthur Templeton canoe built by Doc Blanchard around 1970. We had no idea what we were getting into when we decided to repair this canoe. Had we known that most of our effort would be in finishing and sanding, we might have decided for full restoration. Lesson learned. Regardless, she's back on the water, is watertight, and we are both real pleased with the results.

You'll be albe to tell from the lack of foliage in the pictures that the repair has been done for some time. The pictures were taken with Steve's camera and he could never email them to me. I finally went over his house yesterday with a memory-stick and took copies, which I will try to post here, if I can remember how to do it.

Last winter, I posted a question about seats. I was planning on putting in webbed seats, but I visited canoeist Mike McCrae up in Middleton, Md, and he pulled some old slat seats out of the shop's rafters that we thought looked good. We put them on 5 gal buckets and sat on them over a beer. They seemed comfortable. I built new seats using the ones we got from Mike as a model, and they turned out well. Time will tell how they hold up.

Well, thank you. Fixing up the canoe really opened my eyes to the craft of wood canoes, an aspect of canoeing that had previously escaped my notice. It was wonderful to have the forum here for advice. Plus, I feel like I joined a fraternity of sorts, I enjoyed reading about everybody's projects. In short. THANK YOU!

 

[JEM]

Just saw this post. Anyone have a pattern of the of the sides panels?

 

[doc's daughter]

canoe talk

Hi,
I am the daughter of Doc Blanchard, builder of the Arthur Templeton canoes in Greenville, Maine. My Dad died this summer, but built hundreds of canoes over 40 years. We have been left the task of building 2nd generation Blanchard canoes. I would be happy to help anyone with questions if I can. I can verify from the pictures that Chip has on the site that is one of Dad's canoes. He would not have put foot braces into his canoe, although many of his canoes hit the racing circuit in the 60's and 70's in Maine. Bill and Fern Sterns of Old Town won a national title I believe.

We are also trying to find sponsors to do a heritage project of my dad's work. We have a videographer and grant writer working on the project. Eventually we would like to publish the dvd. We have also talked about starting a "canoe building camp" where people would come stay at the lake and build a canoe in my dad's shop....kind of a working vacation.
Nice to talk to people who still appreciate a handmade canoe!

 

[Blue Viking]

Hi;
Just read your post and wanted to take the time to wish you luck on your project. I woud be seriously interested in purchasing a DVD when you have it finished..Please make sure you make an announcement on here...OK? Also, are you in Dad's shop a lot and running it or is it idle right now? My reason for asking is that I would love to stop by and admire the work of a true craftsman. I am a novice at this right now and am restoring some old square sterns but my true project is to build one after these two are finished.