Book Review: Mike Elliot's This Fancy Old Canoe

Another spectacular resource for canoe restoration has been created by Mike Elliot of Kettle River Canoes. This Fancy Old Canoe is Mike's second publication on the topic following his highly successful and well received first book from back in 2016. This Fancy Old Canoe is set to be released on Amazon on June 3rd, 2024. I was fortunate to receive an advanced copy to review and share with readers here.

Mike's well known Canoeguy's blog has been providing restoration tips online since 2009. His posts have been a valuable resource for folks who have wanted to tackle a repair on their own, especially for those intimidated by the job.  These posts formed the basis for his first book, This Old Canoe, which exclusively focused on wood-canvas construction. These included typical repairs such as replacing broken ribs and planking, splicing rib tops, dealing with rotted stem tips and of course, re-canvassing. 

Having covered these common types of damage and repair, Mike's new book tackles more difficult restoration challenges seen in other styles of canoe construction. As many of these styles are no longer being actively built and have been relegated to being viewed as vintage antiques, Mike appropriately refers to these classic hulls as "Fancy Canoes".   

In particular, the book discusses the various forms of all-wood construction, which rapidly evolved in the region of Peterborough, Ontario. These various "Peterborough" canoes did not have a waterproof canvas exterior but instead relied on precise wood joinery to create a water-tight hull.  This Fancy Old Canoe thoroughly describes how to repair and replace every component in these elegant designs.

With over 400 photos and more than 100 plans and illustrations, This Fancy Old Canoe helps to methodically direct the restoration process and provides a clear guidance to handling some of the more challenging woodworking tasks.

In addition to these all-wood hulls, Mike delves into the repair of other forms of wood-canvas construction that were not covered in his first book. Included are topics such as reverse engineering highly curved stem profiles, steam-bending short decks and rebuilding the long extended decks typically seen on fancy courting canoes. 

Further chapters cover the complex task of dealing with pocketed inwales commonly seen in B.N. Morris canoes as well as additional topics of wide outwales and handling restorations to sponson air chambers. The caning patterns for a trapezoidal seat from a 1905 Rushton Indian Girl is also included as are plans for a wood slat Peterborough portable canoe chair. Even repairs to sailing rigs and floor systems are thoughtfully discussed along with a chapter on applying fancy hand-painted decorations to a hull.

As in his first book, This Fancy Old Canoe concludes with a series of handy schematics for the key components of a variety of historic canoe models. The plans include information on the Old Town Otca,  Thomson Brothers Ranger, Rushton Indian Girl, Peterborough Lake Queen, and a Willits Brothers double cedar hull.  

Collectors of antique canoes as well as folks interested in appreciating the elegant complexity of these watercraft will no doubt appreciate the fine photography and explanations. Those who wish to tackle getting an heirloom canoe back on the water will find these two books are wonderful resources to help overcome challenges and achieve success in their canoe restoration project.

This Fancy Old Canoe: A Comprehensive Guide To Restoring Antique Canoes will be available on Amazon starting on June 3, 2024.

This Fancy Old Canoe: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring Antique Canoes

8.5″ x 11″ paperback

248 pages

more than 400 photographs

more than 100 plans and illustrations

$25.95 USD ($34.95 CAD)

Possible Pre-Fire Chestnut Canoe

 Recently was able to acquire yet another cedar canvas canoe. This one might be indeed quite special.

The canoe belonged to a long time member of our cottage lake association and wanted it to go to another member willing to take on the restoration. It was picked up on a very snowy December evening  where it was being stored outdoors under a tarp. At the time, daytime light had faded so it was impossible to examine the details until the next morning while a winter storm raged on.   

Originally I was told it was a 16 foot Chestnut, but after proper measuring it is in fact 15 footer. 16 also typically had two thwarts rather than the single thwart found in this model.  The more remarkable thing is that the canoe is constructed with "closed gunnel" system involving a much thinner outwale attached by copper nails in addition to a rail cap giving the rails a more finished look. This type of construction method is found on early dated cedar canvas canoes and was later discontinued by most companies in favour of the "open gunnel" construction, a faster and easier method of canoe building. 

Researching early Chestnut catalogues reveal the closed gunnel method was built on all their 1st Grade Pleasure class canoes up until 1922. After 1925, this method of build was offered at no extra charge but the canoes in the catalogue were cited as being built with the open method. After 1928, no mention of closed rail construction appears in their company literature.

Thin outwales and a rail cap attached with copper nails

Furthermore, this 15 footer had one of the most narrow widths I've seen on for such a hull length. Most other 15 foot Pleasure class Chestnuts I've come across were had varying widths of 32-34 inches, getting wider as in the later years as the building forms changed. This one has dimensions of 15' x 31" x 11-1/2" deep.

Many folks are aware that the Chestnut factory burned in December of 1921 resulting in a complete loss of the original forms and patterns. As a result, hull shapes and dimensions significantly changed (and new models were created). Though it is yet to be confirmed by additional inspection, there is a chance that this canoe is a "pre-fire" Twozer model, making it relatively rare survivor. 

However, it is quite obvious that the canoe had undergone a restoration at some point. The canvas has started to tear at the gunnel line to reveal some of the planking underneath. This planking is secured with brass tacks as opposed to the copper fasteners that would've been used during the era. 

The decks are requisite heart-shape consistent with pre-fire Pleasure class canoes, but not heavily crowned or undercut and is a likely replacement. Certainly the Chestnut decal is a replacement as it looks too fresh.

The ends of the canoe are covered in a 3/8 wide brass stem band but it is secured with square head Robertson screws, rather than slot screws consistent with the time period. The single centre thwart is made from Birdseye maple but now has some serious cracks where it is attached to the gunnels. It is finely carved with rounded edges.

Overall the woodwork is in great shape. None of the ribs are cracked and just a few token pieces of planking appear damaged from the interior. Of course fully stripping the varnish and removing  the canvas might reveal more. A more thorough review will have to wait until the spring, but for now the canoe is protected in a heated garage.

Trapper Canoe Project - canvassing and completion

With all the major woodwork on the 14' Trapper canoe completed by the summer of 2022, the time had come in the early fall to begin the canvassing process. The hull had been faired, the interior treated with 4 coats of spar varnish and the exterior of the hull oiled. 

Learning from the canvassing experience of the 14' Chesnut Playmate in 2019, I adapted the setup with a few tweaks. This time, I built elevated supports onto my sawhorses to allow for less crouching when pulling the canvas down for stapling. This resulted in the canoe being perched quite high and looking funny.

Also, unable to secure lighter weight #12 canvas duck, I ended up using the more traditional #10 duck. The advantage is that the thicker weaved #10 does a better job in hiding some of the imperfections in this 65 year old hull.

The tensioning setup using a Y strap and heavy duty ratchet strap was the same as back in 2019 and the stapling went without a hitch. Next came the stinky process of applying preservative to canvassed hull and letting it air out over a week or so. After this, the canvas was filled once again using a water-based "lagging compound" mud applied in consecutive layers. 

The beauty of this filler is that it cures relatively quickly and can be painted within days of application. Here is a shot beginning the primer coat of grey over the filled canvas.

The canoe's interior had be covered with an oil-based, dark green paint by the original owner. Despite weeks spent stripping the interior during the early days of the project, there were always flecks of green embedded in woodwork, giving the interior a bit of "character". A decision was made to continue the green tradition of this canoe's existence and paint the hull this standard canoe colour. Along with my Red Chestnut, I now have a set of canoes in vibrant Christmas colours. 

As a bit of an extension to this, I decided to paint the deck (which were not original but had been replaced) in this same colour, along with each of the rib tops. As this was going to be used a solo tripping boat, I also removed the stern seat (to be used in another project) and replaced it with a sassafras thwart, also painted green. Being a practical man, the original owner had also long ago replaced the centre thwart with a board of 3/4" plywood. It is still very sound and has greyed to lovely patina. 

The original owner had also long worn through the caning on the bow seat and had replaced it with a metal mesh. This had also been painted green as seen in this photo of when I first brought the canoe home. 

The loose paint on the seat had been scraped away and new coats of green paint applied to maintain this unique build feature.  Here is a shot of the re-vitalized trapper canoe!

Trapper Canoe Project - plenty of planking and splicing repairs

It's been quite a while since I was able to post about the restoration of the 14' Trapper canoe begun in 2020. What began as a potential project to work with High School students became derailed during the initial Covid shutdown and then again during the multiple waves. 

Resigned to the fact that I would be tackling this project on my own, I started to slowly and methodically conduct repairs on the hull that had been fully stripped of its fiberglass exterior and interior paint. Any broken or rotten planking was removed and work began on rib repair.

While no ribs were cracked, hard usage of the boat by the sole original owner resulted in multiple rotted rib tops. The necessary ribs were were repaired with new cedar spliced on while nail holes in other rib backs were simply strengthened with wood filler.

Also requiring attention were the rotted stems on both ends. Previous repairs on rotted inwale ends were poorly done with too shallow a splice angle, epoxy and screws and non-matching wood type.

New stem tips of rot-resistant sassafras were shaped and spliced on both stems. I was able to secure some white oak gunnel stock to match the original inwales and did those repairs at either end as well. In the end I ended up re-using the decks so did not have to carve out new ones.

There was a fair bit of planking that needed to be replaced, particularly on the bottom where the old canoe had been subjected to heavy metal beaver traps and such.

I ended up using a band-saw and belt sander to mill some planking from left over white cedar stock from the birchbark canoe build years ago. In spots subject to heavy strain on the bottom of the hull, the planking would stretch over multiple ribs to be a stronger repair. 

In spots where the planking would take a severe bend or twist, the plank would be heated with a damp towel and clothes iron and then tacked into place. Over many weeks of slow milling and hammering, the planking on the hull was complete. Plenty of sanding was done to fair the hull but this boring part was not photographed...

Next up: Canvasing and painting. Read that post HERE.

Trapper's Canoe Restoration: Analysis of the hull exterior

After removing the fiberglass cloth off the exterior of the hull and methodically scraping away bits of resin, the cedar planking was now fully exposed. Basically the condition of the planking could now be assessed.

A centre plank has a hole and will need to be replaced. This should be an easy repair since the planking lies flat in this area.

 A more challenging repair will be at the bow stem where planking has been damaged revealing the stem piece and ribs underneath. Here the planks twist heavily but the repair should work once the planks are treated with some heat...

Some planking along the sheer line will need to be replaced. It seems the original owner did some repairs by tacking bits of wood between the damaged rib tops in a effort to stabilize the region

These discretely placed bits did their job because the region is pretty solid despite the rough appearance. They were also painted green but will become unnecessary once the rib tops are properly repaired and secured to the inwale. In total I counted 9 standard ribs tops that need to be repaired and 2 cant rib tops that also need splicing in of new wood. Can't see any cracked / broken ribs at the moment, but something might be revealed once all that green interior paint is stripped away.

The heavy layers fiberglass at the stems added stiffness to the hull but likely also contributed to the heavy rot on both stems. Once the tacks were removed at the edge planking, the missing stem tops were revealed at both ends. These will also need to have new tips spliced in...

Basically this canoe has a little bit of everything needed for repairs but it still seems to be in great overall condition for a heavily used, functional boat.

The next part of the restoration is posted at this link HERE.

Trapper Canoe Restoration: Removing Fiberglass from the hull

Luckily, this canoe's experiment with fibreglass happened in the 1960's when polyester resins were used in the process. This meant that over time the glass would become more brittle and could (in theory) be easily removed by applying heat to soften the structure. Apparently epoxy resins used since the 80s are much more adhesive and stick aggressively to the planking making removal much more labour intensive if not impossible.

Over the course of a few days, I was able to use a 1500W gun and start removing the impregnated cloth. Videos I've seen online often show the glass easily coming off without leaving any resin remnants on the hull. This canoe was not so forgiving. It seems the application by the original owner was quite uneven and large sections of the hull left pockets of green-coloured resin in a weave pattern once the cloth itself was removed.

Here is a shot of the final bits of fibreglass covering coming off the other side of the hull. Plenty of resin left over meant that I had to go over it again with the heat gun and methodically scrape off the green plastic bits without damaging the planking

That process took a few more days but was quite enjoyable when the cedar hull began to reveal itself.

The resin had also soaked into the natural gaps in the planking. These were a bit of a chore to remove without splitting the planking edging but were cleaned out with a cheap dental pick obtained on Amazon. I could see how some of the planking had split down the middle, likely because there was no room for natural expansion with all the gaps filled with thick resin.

Here is the canoe finally free of its 50 year old fibreglass cloak...

All those removed bits were weighed and clocked in at 10.8 pounds. Next up an evaluation of the hull now that the glass is off and the start of the messy process of stripping paint and varnish from the interior.

Read the next post about the restoration HERE

Trapper Canoe Restoration: Removing Keels (took the whole day!)

 Closer inspection of the 14' Trapper's Canoe revealed a bunch of home-made additions and repairs.

This model of Peterborough Canoe (Mermaid) originally came with a wide shoe keel. When the canoe was fiberglasssed in the 1960s, the shoe keel was removed and the holes in the ribs plugged with dowels and covered with a little bit of resin. You can see them in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th ribs below:

After glassing the hull, three narrow oak were mounted to the hull, each with their own fastening system in an amateurish way.

One keel seemed to have re-used the old flat-head bolts and nuts from the show keel and some were mounted with steel washers. The centre keel used a variety of Robertson screws to attach from inside the hull through the ribs & planking. Rather than re-use the existing holes from the shoe keel, the owner opted to mount with new holes on alternating ribs. The final keel was attached the other way with the screw head drilled in from the keel side and the tips piercing the interior of the hull. The intention was likely to hide the tips by embedding them into the ribs, but the original owner missed and ended up leaving sharp, exposed screw tip in the planking. You can just see the rusted tip of one such screw where the awl blade is pointing below:

Each of these stainless fasteners was heavily corroded and/or covered in paint so removing each was a battle without stripping the head. In the end, I ended up patiently heating each up for about 5 minutes with an an electric soldering pen to break up the cohesion and it really did the trick. A heat gun was then used to soften up the resin and cloth applied to the keels. It took a while but slowly and surely the fibreglass layers were removed and the wood keels exposed. All three oak keels were heavily rotted under their glass layer and basically crumbled when pried off the hull. Definitely see why glassing a hull can accelerate wood rot with canvas canoes.

All this took a very long day of dealing with corroded fasteners and such. Ended up weighing all the discarded glass covering the triple keels as well as the oak remnants and rusted screws/bolts. This little canoe surgery took off 8.5 lbs of weight.

Update: Next post on removing fibreglass HERE

New Project: Trapper's Canoe Restoration

Picked up a new boat that seems a perfect candidate for a restoration...

 

The canoe originally belonged to Richard "Alan" Reid of Otonabee-South Monaghan who passed away this year at 93. Reid was a full time fur trapper and utilized the canoe in the Kawarthas area. A few years ago, Richard gave the canoe to his neighbour & caretaker who intended to do a full restoration but had given up on the project. According to her, the canoe was originally picked up directly from the Peterborough Factory sometime in 1950s. Apparently he used the canoe extensively for trapping beaver and covered the boat with fibreglass sometime in the 1960s.

Dimensions and build look very much like a Peterbough Mermaid. It seems to be very similar is shape and dimensions as my Chestnut Playmate / Peterborough Mermaid hybrid acquired in 2015. It's a just over 14' long, quite narrow (30" beam) and a 12" depth. Ribs are the narrow "pleasure" style (1-1/2" wide). Unlike my existing boat, this one has outwales that are not spliced or rounded off so they appear quite bulky and squarish. The canoe must've been used pretty hard by the trapper as it shows signs of practical repair / alteration.

Over the course of its lifetime, the bow deck has been replaced with a new piece of black cherry and the tip ends of the inwale spliced with a different wood, possibly oak. The seat caning has long since disappeared but the original holes are there. Reid replaced the stern seat covering with a plywood plank and the bow seat with some sort of metal mesh. Presumably it was better for usage in the winter. The original center thwart is gone and replaced with a plank.

Most notably, the flat wide shoe keel standard on the Mermaid was removed and the ribs show that the original screw holes were plugged. In its place, a narrow hardwood keel with two additional bilge keels were installed each using different fasteners. The centre keel uses square Robertson screws driven from different alternating ribs from the plugged original holes. One bilge keels uses wide slot head bolts secured to the keel with square nuts. The other bilge keel seems to have been fastened with basic wood screws but from the outside of the hull towards the ribs so that no fasteners appear on the inside of the hull. 

All three keels are covered with a thick application of sloppy fiberglass but as this was likely done with 1960s Polyester formula, it is chipping off relatively easily and should be easy to remove with a heat gun.

Once I told the seller about the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association, our local chapter and my intention to work local high school kids to help with the restoration, she graciously threw in 4 vintage paddles, including two very old ones that were heavily used by the original owner. More on these paddles in a different post.

Update: Read the next post about the restoration HERE.

Chesnut Keel Garden Decoration

Back when re-canvassing my 14 foot Chestnut canoe this spring, I made the conscious decision to not re-install the long shoe keel. Consulting with a few experts at the 2018 Wooden Canoe Assembly in Peterborough, the consensus was that with the relatively thick ribs and decent original planking job on the canoe, the hull would not need additional strengthening with the re-attachment of the keel. I don't like keels much anyway.

Many folks keep their removed keels in case the canoe is sold at a later date and the new buyer would like original parts. Don't think I'll be departing with my Playmate in the future, but decided to put the keel to use in the garden wall. The reverse side was sealed with some oil and then the keel mounted on to some lattice fencing. Nothing special, but our little garden corner with red lanterns and flags now has another symbol of Canadiana to enjoy

WCHA - Northern Lakes Chapter - Cherry Beach Paddle

In an effort to meet local members of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association, I offered to lead a group paddle to Toronto Islands for the Northern Lakes Chapter.  It was scheduled for August 27th, but after weeks of beautiful weather, that day happened to coincide with heavy rainfall and extremely gusty southerly winds. The event was bumped a few days to Thursday. Joining me on the outing was Chapter Head, Alex G and local Toronto resident, Bernadette F along with her cute dog, Pookie. Bernadette was able to use public transit to arrive at the location as a shuttle bus leaves from Union station and stops right at the foot of Cherry Beach, our access point.

Conditions were much more favourable than two days prior, but a brisk Westerly wind (the prevailing direction) created some chop for the initial departure. Luckily, Alex brought his 16ft North Bay Canoe prospector which handled the conditions well and I  bobbed around in my re-canvassed Chestnut Playmate. Once in the main canal however, all was calm for a enjoyable tour.

We were greeted by a picturesque family of Mute swans, with mother and father book-ending their two cygnets in a postcard formation. This will be my wife and I walking our kids to school in a few days...

Summer canoe camps run on the island and a group had recently landed on the shore of one of the undeveloped islands to sing some camp songs while we silently paddle by...

Water levels on Lake Ontario were down from their all time high earlier this year, but they were still much higher than anything I've seen before. The shoreline which used to be sandy beach was flooded and getting under one particular bridge meant ducking under or getting your forehead smacked with concrete.

Large fibreglass voyageur canoes took tourists around, yet the local wildlife seemed undisturbed by the grunts and competing splashes of the paddles.

The group spotted two herons in the marshy areas which impressed us with their noble poise...

Due to the flooding, the island train that skirts the waterfront was non-operational and many of the farm animals at Far Away farm were inland away from their waterside pens. However, we were later gifted with seeing a mink swim across are bows.

The wind conditions in the inner harbour were too intense to check out the old Hanlan's point where the old baseball stadium once stood and where Babe Ruth hit his first home run into Lake Ontario waters as a pro-baseball player. Instead, we stayed in the protected channels until we reached the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, the oldest surviving lighthouse on the Great Lakes. At one point it was just 25 feet from the exposed lakeshore, but sand deposits and fill have now left it marooned 100 yards inland. The tree line to the south has also grown so that the lighthouse is no longer visible from the lake as originally intended.

On the way, we got some interesting comments from people riding the Gondola above one of the canals. Mostly, it was how cute Pookie the puppy was while riding in the canoe. The white and brown building in the background is the island church, St.Andrews-By-The-Lake (1884) where the every summer in July, the lagoon fills with all sorts of watercraft for the annual Blessing of the Boats, a neat local tradition.

My re-canvassed stayed completely dry which was nice. I may need to tweak the seat a little bit, but on the whole I'm absolutely delighted with this narrow 14 footer as a solo boat. Plans are to perhaps attempt another group paddle to the Islands in spring. Perhaps we'll have more people turn out after a long difficult winter.

In the meantime, the WCHA Northern Lakes Chapter may run another in another paddling hot-spot in the city - The Humber River Marshes - sometime in late September, early October to coincide with peak fall colours.