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.

My son has made progress on his DIY loudspeakers. They are fully assembled and tested.

Here they are with the stain and first coat of varnish. They sound better than any speakers I have ever had, by a long shot!

I have this 90 gal. plywood aquarium that I set up outside of the shop door. It is set up as a pond with some driftwood, plants, and a few guppies. Now there are LOTS of guppies. They are growing faster and are looking healthier and more colourful than any tank raised guppies that I have ever kept.