Peabody Passamquoddy Paddle Sketch

Came across a wonderful illustration of a paddle in an out of print children's book, Discovering Canada: The Fur Traders. It is another version of the c1849, green and white painted Passamaquoddy paddle at the Peabody Museum.

I've posted on this paddle many times before as it is the basis for the paddle in the header of the site and one of my favourite blade designs. Here is the version illustrated by Tappen Adney and the new one by illustrator A.G. Smith.


Adneys's Illustration


A.G. Smith's illustration

Christmas Canoe Accessories

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season. I've been a bit of a good boy I guess, because Santa delivered some presents in the form of some canoe accessories from Stewart River Boatworks.

My newly acquired 15 cedar canvas is a pretty heavy boat, weighing in at 68lbs dry. The ash gunnels, decks, shoe keel and heavy canvas all add up to too many pounds for my liking. Being a heavier-duty boat than my other 14 foot W/C, this one is intended to be a bit of a user for poling up rocky rivers & creeks in my areas with minimal portaging.

But since carrying the boat is always going to be inevitable, I thought I'd try out some clamp-on Portage Pads which seem to be quite popular in the BWCA - Minnesota area. Also ended up getting the waxed canvas kneeling pads. Here is all the new gear in the boat right before it was packed away for good at the end of November. This was also my chance to try out the completed Peter Polchies Ash Malecite. It's now Boxing Day and winter is barely here. A few pathetic centimeters of snow where normally it should be around a meter and the lake is completely unfrozen and open. I might've packed away the canoe too early this year and if things work out, might be able to get another paddle in.






The portage pads appear quite bulky but they get the job done, even when used on a straight centre thwart as in my boat. I'm planning to carve a non-dished, curved center yoke as a winter project and eventually will use the pads with this new replacement.

c. 1900 Penobscot Carved Wood Paddle

Here's another antique paddle from the archives on LiveAuctioneers.com. It is described as a Penobscot Paddle, circa 1900 with a red-brown pigment on the blade. The delicately shaped handle has wonderful curved features with incised floral and C-scroll designs. It's a long one at 77 inches!


Penobscot Carved Wood Paddle
circa 1900length: 77 inches

The same paddle posted on Skinner Auctions revealed an estimated price of $400-$600 with the final hammer price of $2,370.


Feb 23, 2016 UPDATE: This paddle is now in the collection of the Hudson Museum, University of Maine. For more images and other details see post here. 

Mackendrick Paddle Family Crest

Came across this interesting bit of canoe related art in a family crest that features a muscled arm holding a canoe paddle. Kind of a neat way of saying, "Don't mess with us because we'll get medieval and beat you silly with our weapon of choice - a canoe paddle."





The Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada has a write up page regarding these heraldry symbols registered to the Mackendrick family. Apparently the canoe paddle alludes to the great success that family members over five generations have had in the sport of canoeing, beginning with the international success of the three sons of Mr. MacKendrick’s great-grandfather.

Curious to learn more, I searched a bit and came up with this info:

Harry F. MacKendrick (1866-1950), a prominent citizen and physician in Galt for many years, brought considerable fame to his city and to himself as a canoeist. In New York in 1890 he set a new record in winning the World Championship and with his brother, John, also won the tandem championship. Previously, when only twenty years of age, he won the American Championship at Sturgeon Point and upon his retirement it was said that he was never defeated in 122 races in "singles" competition.

His father, two brothers and he as a team member won four world titles during that era. He was talented in other sports and was a member of the Canadian all-star team which won the World's Soccer Championship in 1885.

Antique Harvard Paddle

Another expired EBay listing lists photos of a 59" paddle with a beautiful patina.


The grip has an engraved "H" for Harvard and the blade is branded with "F. Brodbeck Boston". Some research on the WCHA forums revealed that F. Brodbeck was one of the "Charles River" builders in Boston, active between 1898 to 1930 so this paddle likely dates to this time.