Photo Gallery

Similar to a high end Champlain, but with all Mahogany trim.

14' Kildonan. This canoe required extensive repair. It had been picked up and dropped by a windstorm, flat on the bottom. The result was that along the center portion were broken twice, one break at each chine.

Not only did all the ribs in the center need to be replaced, leaving only 3' at each end original, but all of the planking as well. New canvas, paint, and general repair were also needed.

This canoe was used for survey work on Lake Winnipeg in the 1930's. This is a "Before" photo. It was in pretyt good condition, actually. Sometimes looks can be decieving.

Same as previous.

Who said Kevlar was indestructable? This canoe had its bottom bashed up so bad during its first season of use, that the easiest wat to fix it was to replace it.

I faired out the bumps of the original bottom and used it as a mould for fabricating a new fiberglass bottom. Then I cut out the old bottom, and bonded in the new on. Smoothed the outside surface fair, and painted it to match the original colour.

Once in awhile a boat comes in for work and the only word that you can think of is "Euh, Gross!" This was one of those boats. The interior was filthy and painted flourescent orange over the varnish. The exterior had been coverd with green fiberglass.

Bow detail. New Peterborough decals grace the bow. New inner gunnels were required, as well as replacing several of the Elm ribs.

Original style script decals for the stern add the finishing touch.

The interior and the exterior were both coated with several coats of epoxy prior to varnishing. This was to stabilize the wood and keep theboat waterproof. Normally, this type of construction would not require any coating beyond varnish: as the wood piked up moisture, it would expand and squeeze tight the joints to keep the water out. This boat was only going to be used from time to time, so this approach was felt to be justified by the owner. Note that the original transom framing was used on the new transom, keeping the "look" of the original.

This canoe was in near perfect condion upon arrival to the shop. All it required was stripping of the original, tired varnish, and a few bits of brass (stemband and floor clips)

All stripped of its old varnish and ready for sanding.

Fresh varnish made this canoe glow. This canoe was a real beauty. Everything was so nice about it that I decided to document it by taking the lines, as well as deck and thwart tracings. Perhaps one day I'll build one...

The Ogilvy is built like a tank. Extra thick ribs placed close together, only 1/2" spacing! Thick planking, and a massive center thwart that would occasionally be used as a seat for the "Sports", the salmon fishermen that the canoe was intended for. Even so, it has very graceful lines and is fast for such a heavy canoe.

If you ever needed proof that many Chestnut and Peterborough canoes were built on the same moulds, here you go. On the left is a Peterborough Mermaid, on the right is a Chestnut Playmate (with some alterations for solo use made during restoration).

Huron, "Big Chief", and Bastien Brothers, were brands applied to canoes built by a collective of builders based in the Quebec City area. There is a sameness to the build, but also considerable variation in the quality of workmanship. Typically, these canoes would be considered "Utility" grade. There are a lot of these canoes around, and the economical purchase price was certainly an incentive to buyers.

When restored, Huron's provide very servicable canoes, and many find them quite attractive.

The Kildonan Canoe Co. was based in Winnipeg, operating from at least the '40's till the '70's. Their canoes shared many features with the Peterboroughs and Chestnuts that predominated at that time. This particular canoe, built during wartime, has Elm ribs and steel tacks.

This is th earliest date Kildonan canoe that I have encountered. I was quite surprised to find this signature unde the canvas!

A 16' canoe came into the shop with some particularily graceful features. Aside from a newar perfect canoe shape, sheer, and stem profile, the deck was particularily nice. Crowned on the top and sigificantly undercut leaving just a thin exposed edge, I decided to incorporate this detail into my own building. Since working on this canoe, I have seen an identical deck on a 1910 Chestnut in the Canadian Canoe Museum.

A big sister to the Fox/Mermaid canoe, this 15' canoe has all the same great features that grace the Fox. Typically, the 34" wide Minetta was the Peterborough 15' offerring, this model is slightly narrower at 31.5".

This is the original Fox canoe that I documented and build as the Red Fox

The Chestnut Pal of modern times is a widened version of an older Pal, which is a sister canoe to the Peterborough Champlain. Here you can see the shape similarities.

This is the restored canoe from the previous photo. In its unrestored shape, it looked pretty bad. A wooden canoe was to be worse than that to be un-restorable.!

The canoe on the left is the old Peterborough in the previous photo. The canoe on the right is a restored Peterborough low end Champlain.

This old Peterborough is very narrow, and it was felt that a sliding bow seat would be a nice addition in order to manage the trim easily. The idea here is to keep it looking all "of a piece". The seat and thwart are the originals.

Peterborough made 12' & 13' versions of this boat. Built using the same construction techniques as the canoes.