Poling Pic up the Allagash Stream

Here's another vintage pic of poling in a cedar canvas canoe complete with pack basket! It looks like an image from “Tales from Misery Ridge: One Man’s Adventures in the Great Outdoors”  by Paul J. Fournier. Apparently the book was named the best book of 2011 by the New England Outdoor Writers Association.  

Paul J. Fournier poles his canoe up Allagash Stream in Maine 

Citation Link:  http://www.boston.com/2012/04/25/word/PsMx2xl17jtlmGw94Aw1iO/story.html

1942 Potomac Canoe Trip

Not directly related to paddle making, but I'm a sucker for these vintage canoeing pics. These ones are LIFE magazine from a series entitled "1942 Potomac Canoe Trip". Love the second shot - the ladies seem perfectly relaxed.  Think I'll be scrounging around some scrap wood to build an appropriate backrest for my special lady.

Potomac Canoe Trip

Date taken: July 1942

Photographer: Thomas Mcavoy

For Personal, Non Commercial Use

Kent Lund's Grand Rapids Paddle Co

Here's a link to a great article on paddle making entitled, "The Art of Making a Splash" recently posted on MetroMode Media. It features fellow paddle maker, Kent Lund of Grand Rapids Paddle Company. Kent's fantastic work has been featured on the blog before and if interested, you can read some of those earlier posts by clicking here.

In the Maine Woods: Historic Poling Pics

Can't seem to get enough of the online editions of In the Maine Woods. The 1917 Edition has some great photos of some canoe poling. Here's one from Page 70. Check out the crazy bend on the pole as the Guide works the canoe upstream on the Moose River...

Another nice shot in a really tight stream from the earlier 1904 Edition...

A crazy action shot ascending rapids well beyond my abilities found in the 1910 Edition...

And one more showing some work around the shoreline shallows on the Penobscot (1908 Edition). You can just make out the wanigan in one of the canoes...

Push Paddle

Youtuber North61 recently posted a short video about his hand-made paddle made specifically for use with a freighter canoe. After some work with a froe, drawknife and crooked knife, he ended up with a 7 foot 6 inch push paddle for the grand total of $5.00. Here's a shot video of his work...

A thread on the CCR forums has some more details as well. Poster HOOP pointed out that these large paddles were used with freighter canoes in Fort Severn, Ontario. Here's a historic pic

Douglas Kakekaspan of Fort Severn hewing a new paddle on the Black Duck River
Date July, 1953
Place BLACK DUCK RIVER (ONT.)

Archives of Ontario

Item Reference Code: C 330-14-0-0-165

Some readers of the blog might recall that paddling friend Mike O organized a canoe restoration project in Fort Severn last summer. One of the builders on the project, Doug Ingram of Red River Canoe documented modern day freighter canoe paddles still used in this region today. Here is that post with more pics for anyone interested in these paddle designs.