Mariner's Catalog (1973) - Henri Vaillancourt Paddles

Came across a 50 year old photo published in the 1973 publication,  The Mariner's catalog, available for 1 hour borrowing on Archive.org. It accompanies a brief write-up of the Malecite style paddles carved by Henri Vaillancourt. The photo is B&W is quite dark and grainy but the beautifully sculpted blades with sharp spines are visible. 

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Alexandra Conover Bennet Demonstrates the North Woods Paddle Stroke

 A recent video clip of Alexandra Conover-Bennet showcasing a Penobscot-style paddle, Wabanaki birchbark canoe and the "Northwoods Style Stroke" is now on YouTube. It originally appeared on the WoodenBoat channel, Season 3, Episode 3 of their "Mastering Skills" Series.

ca1849 Passamaquoddy Replica - Chris Pearson

Model maker extraordinaire, Chris Pearson of CanoeManArt, has made a 1/2 scale reproduction of the circa 1849 Passamaquoddy Paddle in the Peabody Harvard Collection. Chris and his work have also been featured in the past, appearing in the The Fall 2015 issue of Canoeroots and Family Camping. This issue showcased six artists whose work focuses on canoe-themed projects. The article is currently available online and there is an archived image of the write up here as well.

Chris's attention to detail on the original and as well as his expert hand have created a beautiful rendition, right down to the worn paint and patina on the original full-sized model. Amazing stuff!

 

A fantastic thread with great photos of the original more details can be followed at the WCHA forum at this link. 

Oscar Farrington Canoe Paddles, circa 1864

In the collections of the The Maine State Museum are a set of decorative paddles with some interesting decorative and carved elements. 

Catalog Number: 75.10.1
Object Name: Paddle, Canoe
Artist-Maker: Unknown
Place Made: MAINE
Date Made: Circa 1875
Media Materials: Wood, Oil paint
Measurements: 63" x 6 1/2" x 1 1/8"

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The painted blades have tiny shoulders and a distinct spine. The tips have been painted black and the blade face features some double curve motifs. The handle consists of a stepped grip similarly scene in traditional Penobscot paddles, but this one features a cylindrical roll grip on top. More painted scroll patterns appear on the flattened grip face. Stamped twice onto the grip face is the name "O. Farrington" along with a date of "1864".

A digital copy of Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine (Spring 1982) features an article entitled, "Oscar Farrington. Canoe Builder?" on pages 24-25. The article discusses the likelihood that a decorated cedar canvas canoe in the collection was also made by the same hands.

New Paddle Submission: Ville K

Blog reader, Ville K, has submitted another paddle creation. A few of Ville's paddles have been showcased before on the blog, all featuring an identical blade shape. The latest creation is also carved from European Aspen but features a thinner blade with a less prominent spine and more flex.

Surface treatment is a few layers of a homemade pine tar-boiled linseed oil-pine turpentine mixture that gives the pale wood a wonderful golden hue. Here is a photo of his three paddles for comparison...

Northwoods Paddle Article: Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors

A while back I had posted on the news that famed Maine Guide and paddle maker, Alexandra Conover Bennett, retired from paddlemaking. Her "North Woods Paddle"  has been passed on to  Shaw & Tenney Paddle Company who have added the traditional design to their line of commercial paddles.

A newly published article describing the Alexandra's paddle legacy appears in the May/June 2020 issue of Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors magazine. Author Donnie Mullen delves into the fascinating local history of the paddle design in his piece, "The Living Legacy of the North Woods Paddle". The article, complete with some photos by the author, is currently available for preview on the magazine's website.

Screenshot: Maine Boats, Homes & Harbor, May/June 2020, Issue 164

The issue also has another canoe-based article on two famed wood-canvas builders, Jerry Stelmok and Rollin Thurlow both of Atkinson, Maine.

Many thanks to blog reader, Joe D, for bringing these online readings to my attention.

Shaw & Tenney Northwoods

A bit of an late update regarding the famed Northwoods style paddles carved by Maine Guide Alexandra Conover-Bennett. Alexandra has retired from paddle making and now Shaw & Tenney Paddle Co will continue the tradition of hand crafted Northwoods design to their line of commercial paddles. More info and photos can be seen in their blog post linked below:

https://www.shawandtenney.com/blog/north-woods-paddle-and-stroke

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Ville K's 2nd paddle submission

Blog reader Ville K from Finland sent in his second paddle creation (see his first paddle here).  This one features the same "Algonquin" blade shape described in Graham Warren's books but has Ville's own style of the elongated Northwoods grip.

This paddle is also made with from aspen and is sealed with a traditional Scandinavian pine tar / boiled linseed oil / wood turpentine mixture. This time around, Ville explained that he applied another layer the next day, when the first treatment was still moist.  He believes this wet on wet  method resulted in a better surface treatment and also resulted in some pleasant tar colour being absorbed into the wood.  Well done!

2019 Temagami Canoe Festival

Wasn't able to attend the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association 40th anniversary Assembly in upstate New York. Turns out every year there is  small, 2 day canoe-themed festival held in Temagami on the same weekend. This year, I made the drive up on the Saturday to check out the waterside exhibits set up by the main town docks.

One of the neat features was a small brigade of voyageur canoes which made their way to shore and set up camp...

Got to meet Dave from Sewn Home, a new canvas tent maker based out of Timmins, Ontario. He had a variety of tents and tarps setup all with dried spruce poles.

I was there to check out the canoes and paddles of course. Here was a neat one in the booth of a Coureur du Bois trapper. Included alongside the display of  pelts was a hand-made paddle with an etching of the typical travel route in the region from Montreal to Fort Temiscamingue just northeast of here.

 Bob's Backcountry Paddles had a nice booth with wide array of hardwood paddles. Like myself, Bob decorates the blades with some pyrography, mostly maps of local Temagami waterways.

Really liked his portable display stand made from a half log and wire backing...

A solo paddling display was conducted right off the main dock for the audience. You'll also see some folks checking out a red canoe up on the dock in the background. I went over and took a couple of pics as well.

Turns out it was an older model from the Temagami Canoe Co, said to be Canada's 2nd oldest surviving canoe company. The short boat was particular wide, someone akin to a Chestnut Bob's Special. The bow seat was covered with a fuzzy sheepskin top for ultimate seating comfort.

Other wood canvas canoes were on display. Here is a restored 17 foot cruiser made by another local maker, Garden Island Canoe Company. The maker constructs seats with woven nylon cordage that get varnished forming a tough weave that is more ideal that cane for tripping canoes.

Another beauty on display was a 16footer built on the original Prospector form of Chestnut Canoe. The maker, Hugh Stewart from Headwater Canoe Co in Wakefield, Quebec was on hand. Hugh was one of the few individuals to acquire Chestnut canoe forms when the company folded in 1979. This one was being raffled off as a 2nd place prize for a local contest.

The highlight for me was seeing the various birchbark canoes on display. Very impressive was this canoe built by an impressive young lady from Bear Island First Nation with an elder last summer. The canoe made the the trip down the Lower Missinaibi River to Mattice as part of inaugural journey.

The cedar thwarts had etchings of a feather and the maker also implanted feathers in the stem deck weavings...

The main outfitter in town also had an impressive collection of modern canoes...

Inside was a rare treat...another bark canoe dated to be at least 80+ years old but needing substantial repair. With the broken lashings holding the thwarts, the canoe has widened quite a bit, but the woodwork was very neat revealing a skilled builder.

Next year I plan to attend the whole 2 day event with the WCHA and setup the historic paddle display.

New Paddles from Rob S

Here is another photo submission from friend, Rob S featuring a sassafras northwoods paddle, a knotty birch and another beavertail blade also carved from sassafras. Keep the photo submissions coming!

Reader Submissions

Recently I received correspondence from two readers of the blog who have begun carving their own paddles.

Ville K from Finland sent in a photo of his first attempt at a paddle. This one is carved from a board of aspen which is apparently commonly sold for sauna seating in Finland. The paddle has been treated with a mixture of pine tar and boiled linseed oil, a traditional treatment for dugout boats in the region.

Ville's Aspen canoe paddle

Another blog visitor,  Art Shaw from Lyndhurst, Ontario, sent in a few more photos of his paddle creations. These are richly decorated with etchings and beautiful chip-carving details. .

Very happy to hear that this site is serving as a useful source of inspiration and guidance for other paddle makers. Keep up the great work!

Ontario Backcountry Canoe Symposium

Got the chance to attend the annual Ontario Backcountry Canoe Symposium held in Kitchener-Waterloo this past weekend. It was my first time coming to this popular event which draws the  community together at the start of each paddling season. The Wooden Canoe Heritage Association had a table with info and copies of Wooden Canoe journal to give away. I brought along the paddle display made for the WCHA assembly last year. During the intermissions between speakers we had quite a few visitors and spread the word about the organization.

Photo with WCHA Canada Chapter Head, Alex Guthro

Photo Credit: Emily Guthro

Discussing history with a fellow attendee
Photo Credit: Emily Guthro

Amongst the attendees were Mike from Badger Paddles who are celebrating their 10th anniversary in the paddle making business. Also got to meet with Milan from Hunter & Harris, another paddle making company based in Bradford, Ontario. We exchanged some ideas and I got to learn more about some of the future plans and design ideas from these quality handcrafted makers.

Photo of Hunter & Harris booth

Photo Credit: Emily Guthro

Hunter & Harris Paddle Display

Photo Credit: Ontario Backcountry Canoe Facebook Page

Canoes were obviously well represented by the folks at Swift as well as John from BackCountry Custom Canoes, maker of skin-on-frame canoe designs that have become popular of late. Turns out a scouting group, the 2nd Kingsville Scouts are raffling off an all cedar Langford Canoe in a draw to be held on August 11, 2019. The canoe was setup on the speaker stage for everyone to admire. Tickets are a very reasonable $20. More info on their Facebook page.

Photo of Langford Draw Canoe

Photo Credit: Emily Guthro

Canoe Museum Volunteer: Rick Schuett Paddle

For an innovative canoe paddle design, check out the Dec 2018 blog post entitled, "A fitting paddle for Rachel" from the Canadian Canoe Museum. The piece outlines the story of Rachel Q, an accomplished young woman who uses a prosthetic on her left arm.

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Paddle maker and museum volunteer, Rick Schuett, engineered a special paddle for Rachel which allows her to make make all the necessary correction strokes with her right while the prosthetic hooks securely on the grip.

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I happened to meet Rick during the 2018 WCHA assembly in Peterborough where he demonstrated the design to onlookers. The rotating mechanism in the shaft was made from a modified gas supply line coupling.

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Popular Woodworking Article (2004)

Here's a link to a PDF Format online article which appeared in Popular Woodworking August 2004. The eight page spread outlines how to make a canoe paddle from board of framing lumber.

Included among the many photos are illustration of the plans as well as a closeup of the grip carving. The author has sketched out an 25" long ottertail blade with a max with of 5-1/2".

2018 WCHA Assembly Highlights

Just concluded a wonderful 4 days in wooden canoe heaven at this year's WCHA Annual Assembly in Peterborough, Ontario. Given the family obligations I needed to commute from home each day but the whole event was quite worth it. Due to our extremely dry summer, the normally lush grass turned into a field of dried yellow, but the canoes on "The Green" were nonetheless quite stunning.

The theme for the event this year was Chestnut Canoes and a wide variety of these classic Canadian icons were out on display on the lawn.  

Chestnut Chum complete with wanigan and Woods canvas pack

A Chestnut Bob's Special, and a few Prospectors

1930s Chestnut Bob's Special with beautiful heart shape decks

A new Canadian attendee to the assembly brought in a very old Chestnut cruiser that has been pretty well cared for. The owner installed a new centre thwart to carry it, but the seat and thwart placement is what was found in older boats. I overheard expert Dick Persson of Buckhorn Canoes assess it as a post-fire, late 1920's Chestnut.

My own little 14 foot Chestnut Playmate seemed crowded with the wanigan and homemade pack basket. On the lawn was a digital scale to help weigh the boats. My little Playmate clocked in at 68.8 lbs without all the gear! Visual evaluation by the experts revealed it has spruce inwales and oak outwales. It'll be needing new canvas and I learned some techniques as well as some creative ideas to get the weight down on this boat. 

My own 14ft Playmate loaded up

Couldn't speak to the owner of the following boat, but it had very interesting outwales with a feature I've never seen before. The ash outwale had a laminated layer of walnut on top giving it a two toned appearance.

walnut and ash outwale

Also fascinating was one of the project canoes on display. Turns out it is the same model as my own Chestnut...another 14foot Playmate being brought back from the dead!

14 foot Chestnut Playmate - "minor repairs needed"

In just a few short days, the hull was regaining its shape. Totally fascinating that an old reject like this could be made to float again.

Pretty boats aside, the real highlight was the chance to re-connect with old friends and make new ones. Craig Johnson and family made the lengthy trip from Ohio. He brought a 1930's Peterborough High End Champlain as well as some his lovely paddles. It was great to get a feel for them in person.

In fact, his wonderfully carved White Cedar paddle was a personal favourite at the show. Weighing in at around 1 pound, it felt like magic in the hands. Craig has apparently tripped with the paddle as evident by some healthy scratches on the surface 

1 pound white cedar paddle

Canoe builder Pam Wedd of Bearwood Canoes was there showcasing her marvelous skills with workshops and some of her boats, including another 14ft Cherish built on the same form as my build from 2008.

Very fortunate for attendees was that paddlemaking master Graham Warren of Moosehead Canoes was able to make the long trek over from the U.K. Graham educated the audience on various ancient paddlemaking techniques as well as his novel ideas with experimental paddle design. Also intriguing to me  was his demonstration of making a paddle by burning a board and scraping out a shape.

Professor John Runciman of Guelph University brought along a series of his own paddle replicas made by measuring various indigenous designs in museums across the continent. While mostly dealing with West Coast and Subarctic designs, there were a few East Coast designs including an etched paddle replica of an Abnaki/Penobscot paddle featured in one of the early posts of the site.

Catalog No: 50.1/ 9826

Culture: ABNAKI, PENOBSCOT

Locale: ME

Regions: EASTERN CANADA, NORTHEAST

Country: USA

Material: WOOD

Dimensions: L:171 W:16.5 H:3 (in CM)

Acquisition Year: 1916 [PURCHASE]

Donor: PAUL, GABRIEL A.

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My own paddle display was up during the day time and the presentation on Historic Paddle Decoration hopefully added a different angle to the morning lectures. My older son accompanied me and was a wonderful assistant showcasing our 10 paddle replicas while I spoke. 

Many thanks to the Assembly coordinators and volunteers who made this event possible.