The Kildonan "Timber Cruiser" is all done and ready for her annual October canoe trip. This is the same canoe that graces the banner of My Canadian Canoe Routes website, just in case you should think to yourself "My, why does that canoe look so familiar?".  You can see the screen capture of the banner on the Sept 1 post.

 

And the old Peterborough is all finished. Four coats of new paint and varnish should protect it for many years to come. I also managed to put on a new 75th anniversary decal, the result of a very generous gift last summer. A little more on the history of this canoe. The present owner bought in in about 1955 along with another same model canoe. The canoes were new at the time and had just completed a trip from Yellowknife NWT to Baker Lake, Nunavut.

 

 

 

 

 

A reproduction of a Kildonan "Timber Cruiser" that I built 6 years ago is in for a little TLC. This canoe gets used regularly and on last years trips is hit some rocks pretty hard. I am happy to report that all that happened is some broken planking! Still, the owners wanted it dealt with, so the still in excellent condition canvas had to come off and a re-canvas is part of the repair work. 

 By the way, this is the canoe that is in the banner of the web forum "My Canadian Canoe Routes".   An interesting story about this, I was looking at the forum one day and the canoe in the banner caught my eye.  "Nice canoe" I say to myself.  Then something about it jogged my memory, there was something familiar about it.  "Looks a lot like how I'd build a canoe." I say to myself.  Then I look closer.  "Hey!" I say to myself, "That IS a canoe that I built myself!"  I followed up with the MYCCR forum staff.  It seems that they were unaware that the web designers had simply lifted the canoe photo from this website and had used it without permission nor credit.  I was simultaneously peeved to be ignored yet glad to be recognized, albeit anonymously.

http://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 1955 Peterborough is moving right along.  The woodwork on the trim and hull is completed, the interior is sanded thoroughly and has 4 coats of Epifanes varnish, the canvas is on and filled, and new outer gunnels are made, installed, and sanded.  I'll be working on the trim varnish over the next few work days, then painting.

 

 

 

 

 

Now that the Peterborough is stripped, I have started sanding the interior. I'm also getting going on the woodwork repairs, starting with the usual gunnel end and stem end repairs. Both ends.  I fit the pieces completely prior to gluing them in, its so much easier that doing it after.

There are also about 20 rib end repairs, then I get to repair the broken ribs.

 

 

An old Peterborough Prospector in for the usual spa treatment.  Some basic rib repairs to be undone, the old canvas is...well, shrinking, evidence that this canoe was red once upon a time, and some lichen along the bottom edge of the gunnel. Its been awhile since the last time any work has been done!

1452 is the model number for the Prospector model in the Peterborough catalog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The NRC is all done and reunited with her owner! Hardly looks like she was ever impaled.

Hint, the four ribs in the centre are the new ones.

 

 

 

 

 

And after the rib replacement work is all done canvas gets applied. This time, in the interest of short time, epoxy filler was used. Then the trim gets back on and the paint starts getting applied, in this photo it is just grey primer.

 

 

 

 

Time to get a move on with the repair of the NRC with the smashed ribs.  The summer racing season is gearing up and the racers are getting anxious.

Step one was to open up the canoe and take the old canvas off.  After 5 years of living outdoors its actually looking really good!

Step two is to make and bend on two new ribs.

Step three is to remove the broken ribs, but not all at one time or I risk distorting the canoe by spreading the planking apart.

Step four is to get the new irbs in place.  I use battens clamped in place to keep the ribs all in alignment.

Step five is to replace damaged planking.

The remaining steps are to sand and apply finish to the new woodwork. canvas, fill, paint, and get all of the trim back on. 

Nothing to it! And people wonder why I have to charge what I have to charge for this work.