I finished off the PEterborough Champlain that belongs to Manitoba Pioneer Camp. New Spruce outwales, maroon paint, new stem bands, re-caned seats, new decal, and new thwarts. The old the old thwarts were all messed up so I pulled some of my own older ones out and used them. At least they all match and are in good condition. I pained the new name on the bow, too. In the end I decided to call it "The Peterborough" as that is how this particular canoe has always been referred to as. Why fight it?

The camp canoe with the first coats of varnish on, and some tools while I work on another project.

I find these little boxes ideal for holding all sorts of fasteners.

Spent some time out at MPC this summer working on the canoes that are out there. Here is a 16' Wabasca, known to campers as the "Jamie Thompson" because Jamie was responsible for Wabasca and had ties to camp. There are three of these canoes at camp.

This canoe had the paint finished and was in need of gunnels. I found a pair hiding away up in the rafters, so I got them on.


I had a fellow who wanted to learn a few things, so I put him to work!

Look up for the camera!

Done and ready for varnish. That will have to wait for another day as I ran out of time.

Before I can replank the MPC canoe there are still several broken ribs to repair. For these I will use the back of the rib repair technique.

All planked up. In some spots there is still some of the original wood left!

Four new ribs are bent over the canoe hull prior to installation.

They are then secured in their curve while getting the canoe ready for them.

Which includes removing the old broken ribs. They had to remain in place while bending because once removed there is not a whole lot of the canoe left!

And here they are all installed.

The old canoe is starting to regain some structural integrity. Now the work of reinstalling the removed planking can get started.

A pair of new decks are made. In this case I used Cherry. OK, I know that Peterborough never used Cherry for the decks, but this canoe is so far from stock now that I just decided to use some nice wood. This is the view of the bottom showing the cutaway.

Decks being installed. I've left them proud of the gunnels in order to get some nice arching across the decks and gunnels like the old canoes.

And (mostly) finished being installed.

Here are the old gunnels out of the canoe. Oie!

And the canoe sans gunnels...

Letting the gunnels cross to determine the correct line to cut fur them to join.

And cut and fit for the stem mortise and tenon. The bare wood is treated with boiled linseed oil.

The new rib stock is prepared, then cut to size.

Each end is cut to the proper bevel using a jig for the bandsaw.

And then they are all glued onto the prepared ribs of the canoe.

Here is a close up of why the gunnels needed to be replaced. This is one of the good spots! There is a lot of rot setting in, so with all of the broken spots, replacing is the best option.

Notice, too, how bad the rib end is. There are about 25 like this.

So, before I install the new gunnels, I have to repair the rib ends. Step one is to cut the damaged wood out.

Then the are all shaped to the same pre-determined bevel.

My children attend Manitoba Pioneer Camp and I pay for their fees in an exchange of services. Basically, I take in their "basket case" wood canoes, the ones that no one else dares work on, fix them up good, and get the canoes back to camp.

This time I am working on a Peterborough low end Champlain. This is the only one that MPC has and it is a favourite of many paddlers. A few years ago it had the misfortune of being blown off of the canoe rack and was impaled upon the next rack. The gunnels were smashed, as well as four ribs, a bunch of planking, and, obviously, the canvas.

While I am at it, this deck had to go. While the work was reasonably done, it is completely inaccurate for a Peterborough.

There were a bunch of gunnel repairs awaiting...

So I decided to make life simpler, to do a better job, and to just replace the inner gunnels altogether.

To get that upturn of the sheer near the ends it is necessary to steam bend the gunnels first.

Gunnel bobbing, one of the simple joys of summer...if you are young enough to actually be able to do it. Sadly, my days for this pleasure are behind me.

We were walking along the path at camp when I say the girls out on the lake doing this. In addition to being fun, it teaches balance and confidence with the canoe. This activity is immediately followed by teaching canoe over canoe rescue.

Forgot to how the next MPC canoe restoration project. This one is an old Peterborough Champlain. That big hole in the side did this canoe in. It got blown off o fthe canoe racks, and got impaled by the arm of the next row of canoe racks. Ouch.

MPC has a fiberglass Canot du Nord, a 26' voyageur canoe. Thought that you'd like to see a few photos of it.

One of summer's traditions is to go to camp. My two oldest kids have been going to camp for a few years now, but this year my youngest was old enough to go. Manitoba Pioneer Camp, (http://www.manitobapioneercamp.ca/) is the camp that we have associations with.

Given that the kids were away, that left my wife and I with 12 days essentially to ourselves. 21 years of marriage, and we finally have 12 days! What to do, what to do? Well, we decided to spend a few days at camp too. Instead of working there, we decided to have a bit of vacation for ourselves. MPC has set up on of the cabins as a retreat cabin, and is available for a nominal rent.

Coincidentally, for canoe enthusiasts, this cabin has long been known as the "Stuga", and is the cabin where Bill and Joyce Mason stayed right after there wedding. It was more rustic in those days, it is fixed up quite nice for its present role as "Gem's Retreat".



I have an arrangement with MPC that I will take some of their wood canoes, the basket cases that no one else can fix, restore them and pay for my kids to attend camp in trade. Its a win-win situation.
A rare photo of me paddling. Rare because I'm usually the one working the camera.

I have started naming the canoes for camp. This is to aid in the oral history that accompanies each of these old canoes. 18 wood and canvas canoes remain at camp, and each has lots of history. To most of the campers, they all look the same, just old wood canoes, specially if they are all painted the same colour, and they are: red. So, by naming them, they each are identified individually. this canoe is called "Grace".

I also put the camp name on the side. Here is Chris Milne, an MPC staffer and wood canoe advocate, taking Grace for a launching paddle one evening.