Kildonan "Double End"

The Kildonan Canoe Company operated in Winnipeg from at least 1944 (the earliest Kildonan canoe that I've worked on), till 1979 (the most recent Kildonan canoe that I've worked on).   Their canoes were typically solidly built in a blue-collar style that is craftsman-like with out being "precious" by being too fancy.  There were a variety of models available, from 14' up to approx. 20' freighters.  I have yet to find any catalog listing, or brochure, so no complete listing is known.

This particular canoe is a reproduction of a very fine, high volume tripping canoe.  The owners of the original canoe (shown here), Mary and Andre Lacabanne, loved their old Kildonan as it suited their canoe camping needs perfectly.  It carried a lot of gear, especially the bulky items that they needed for their end of season traveling, and it was fast for such a high volume canoe.  They wanted to preserve the lines of their old canoe for posterity, make a new canoe (hopefully a lighter one), and make this canoe model available for other people.  So, in the fall of 2004, they commissioned me to document the canoe and build a new mould for it.  A new canoe is to be built during the 2006 building season.

This canoe has strong "V" shaped sections in the quarters, and a shallow arch mid-shape.  The entry and exit waterlines are very clean and long, making for a very efficient hull for its capacity.

While the original canoe has a fair amount of flare to the sides, it is possible to build this canoe with plumb sides.

This canoe is also available with a small "Y" stern transom.

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