It has been a busy 2 months since the last post. Not only have we gotten over 5 feet of snow so far but we have a great line up of canoes we are currently working on. These include a Thompson, Gerrish, Carleton, Penn Yan, Chestnut, Rushton, and a very early Old Town to mention a few. The Old Town was one of the very first canoes to ever roll out of the Maine factory. It bears a three digit serial number 4XX. We are also working on a few new canoes to include a decked canvas covered sailing canoe.
Here are three photo's of the early Old Town.
It was really beat up when it came into the shop.
It was really beat up when it came into the shop.
Fortunately we were able to restore the original shape of the hull which was altered due to poor storage.
The new seats being made as per the originals; mortise and tenon joinery. While the topic is up, we make all of our seats for new canoes with mortise and tenon joinery. It is much better than the ridiculous dowel joinery commonly used.
I guess we owe a picture of the month for both December and January. How about some video footage instead?
This short video is a compilation of footage that was taken during building a new Chicot earlier this winter. The 17’ Chicot (pronounced Shee-koh) is our own design and since building the first canoe off the form several years ago there was somewhat of an instant and insatiable appetite for this model. We have built several and there are a lot of placed orders on the queue. If you enjoy this video, check back here in the near future as plan to put up several more.
The Chicot is favored by wilderness canoe trippers and general use paddlers all over. Here are 2 pictures of it in use up north on the Great Whale during an 8 week canoe trip. You can visit our website http://www.wood-canoe.com/ to find out more information on the Chicot and the 8 other canoe models we build. While we are on the topic of the Chicot, we have an order for one to be built as light as possible for an 80 day canoe trip. The target goal is a fraction under 60 pounds! This one is on the queue for next year and we certainly highlight this canoe as it is being built.
