What have i Got?

[Keith 66]

Thanks for having me aboard. First post from Essex UK, I saw this canoe on fb marketplace last week, then it popped up on ebay.... And so shortly after i find i have won it for not a lot. Picked her up today & pleasantly surprised as its better than it looked in the photos.
She is approx 16' 6" overall & 16' 2" at top of stems. Beam 35" with tapered outwales exttending 1 3/8" beyond the hull planking. Depth inside midships 12".
The seller has had her two years just sitting outside uncovered, He did not know where she camr from save that the previous owner had bought her in excellent condition & owned her for some years. Planking is Mahogany with a narrow white timber plank below the sheerstrake.
Ribs are either White Oak or could be Ash, not sure. No id marks or signs of Decals that i can see, Hull is fastened with copper tacks As are the outwales.
She has a vestigal full length keel with 4 rubbing strips each side then a slightly deeper bilge runner then two more rubbing strips above that. Hull has another rubbing strip just below the contrasting plank.
To my eye she doesnt look to be that old, Im guessing 70's or 80's? but i could be wrong. Stems are rotten at the top & will have to be replaced as will several other bits. Only 4 broken ribs so far though i expect more will be suspect. My son & his girlfriend arrived & vacuumed her out after a scrub out & she looked a whole lot better.
Any ideas as to what she is & who built her? I will not be covering her in epoxy!

 

[samb]

With all those bilge keels, I'm guessing it's French. You might try posting the pictures on https://canoebois.forumactif.org/ there is not much activity there recently so you might need to wait for a reply.

Sam

 

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

As say Samb , it is like a french canoe , but you have a big problem : it'is twisted , picture 5/6

 

[Keith 66]

Yes you are right it is twisted. This is what happens when someone fills a boat with fence posts, last photo shows this.
She is now indoors & the first job for me is to pull her straight before she really dries out.
The suggestion to her being French looks pretty certain, I have just found an old listing online from wooden ships a yacht broker in the UK who specialises in wooden boats. There is this very canoe, if it isnt i will eat my hat.
Listing states "Built in 1930 in France for an owner on the river Loire, refinished by present owner & sold by Wooden ships". This ties in with what the seller told me today he reckoned the guy who he got it from had paid a lot of money for her but she had fallen on hard times. Guy i got it from has owned her two years but had nowhere to do it. I can contact the broker tomorrow & see if he has any more records of the canoe & when he sold her. I am surprised she is that old to be honest.
Anyway now i know what she once looked like & what i have to do. Something to inspire me! Here are a few photos from the old listing.

 

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

you can search here , and contat them

Le Carré des canotiers - Réseau pour la sauvegarde et la promotion de l'histoire et du patrimoine du canotage, des loisirs et sports nautiques

www.carredescanotiers.fr

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Interesting boat, the builder hasnt used half round hardwood ribs, but wider flatter stock like cedar canvas construction. Rilco industries did that in Ontario, but while the boat was ship lapped red cedar, they were still covered with a canvas.

 

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

as you can read in may link upside , many canoes haven't name plate or others , they where built by many craftmen for others great stores , so you an have a x or y builder , it's the same thing in us for the great company
so if you have holes for deck plate or other details who made it different as other , it''s better to find his indentity
sorry i'm french and I dont want using google translate ,sorry for the mistakes

 

[Keith 66]

Many thanks! I tried registering on thr canoebois forum but it wont accept my email address for some reason. Le Carre des Canotiers has some excellent info, I am using google translate as my schoolboy French is rather rusty! The research begins.

 

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

it's our wcha frenchy french , you can find many deck plate of builders , forgeted brands , builders etc
sorry for your not accepted adress at forum canoé bois , Samb and me are on it , but no visit in this time

 

[Keith 66]

These Canoes are a deep rabbit hole to fall into! I spent this afternoon making a building frame / Jig to hold the canoe so it can be straightened out & worked on. The twist in her hull has reduced considerably just by sitting her carefully on my long bench.
I have had several visitors today, All fell in love with her on the spot!
She is in good company as the boat next to her in my shed is an 8.5m fast motor launch built by SE Saunders in 1905, She has had a major rebuild & is well advanced.

 

[Keith 66]

Another visitor today who is into paddling canoes, we were looking round the canoe looking at construction details. Both stems have rot in the top & the stern one is also broken at the waterline. She was built with an inner stem or apron as i would call it in normal boatbuilding, this is sawn from solid joined by a tenon in the middle.
The outer stem is steamed over the top of the aprom & planks & simply nailed on with steel nails, Breasthooks are fastened with steel screws right through the outwale & planking. The outwales will have to be replaced as they have rot in multiple places.
Most interesting from a boatbuilders point of view we noticed that the narrow white timber stripe just below the sheerstrake has no fastenings in it.
So we found that this is tongue & grooved to the adjacent planks, the builder relying on the fastenings above & below for this plank.
The hull rest of the hull planking is finely joined the same way & set tight with fine copper tacks clenched over on the inside.
Sheerstrake is 6mm thick but this reduces down to about 5mm further down. Im using metric cos she is French!
Planking is fine mahogany, the ribs & outwales are Ash, breasthooks & yokes Oak.
I will be searching for some good Ash, usually i wouldnt use it in boats due to its perceived lack of durability but if she has lasted this long it cant be that bad!

 

[Keith 66]

I have given the Canoe a good going over. Work required, Outer stem & apron top, broken at stern rotten at top both ends, needs replacement. The plank ends are mostly sound.
4 broken ribs & a few more suspect with decay, replace. Most of the rib tops are pretty good & fixable with glue. Breasthooks are saveable but the steel fastenings will be a nightmare to remove. A few bits of soft timber in the mahogany sheerstrake which can have patches glued in. One broken yoke mounting block. There is one plank at the waterline badly cupped so will have to think about that! Both ash outwales will have to be replaced due to rot. And a total strip & refinish.
One of the main problems is she has obviously been refinished several times in her life which is to be expected, the effect of the sanding is that many of the copper tacks havent got a lot of head left. So some will need to be replaced.
She is still slightly twisted so a priority is to pull her straight.
To this end i am making a jig to mount the canoe in so it can be rolled around & stay in shape while its being worked on.
Will post some pics when the rolling jig is done.

 

[Keith 66]

I spoke to the broker today, he looked up his paperwork & confirmed she was restored about 12 years ago after being hung in a barn for many years. She was sold 6 years ago in 2020, that owner bought her in excellent condition but didnt look after her, 4 years later he sold her as a restoration project to the guy i got it from.
Broker has passed on my request for info to the earlier guy that restored her.
Today i moved & lowered the long bench so she can be worked on. Jig is coming along.

 

[Keith 66]

Rolling jig assembled today. I am tight on space with machines next to her so it is great to be able to roll her. Two wheels off my old wadkin bandsaw with most spokes cut out & wheel mounts from angle iron & flat bar welded up. The bandsaw frame & major parts were lifted by some scrap men before i could get it home 25 years ago so a fitting final use for its 30" wheels. Strongback bolted to both wheels is a wooden ladder with single rail above, so forms a triangular girder. Not quite finished as needs a few triangular braces to stiffen it, will fit those shortly.
It works very well, canoe can be rotated to any angle & locked there. The twist is mostly worked out but can be finally removed once the girder is braced. I suspect that some ribs will need replacing or refastening in order to hold her shape. Port side was more exposed to the weather so is cosmetically worse, bottom is pretty good, the problem with the multiple rubbing bands is that they are all fastened right though the ribs in the same fashion, So all have to come off in order to fix anything else, Ribs, planks etc.
Hood ends on both ends are lifting off, the nails are plain copper wire or clout nails so dont have a huge amount of holding power.

 

[Worth Gretter]

This is great! Now everyone is going to want one for their shop!