Got the first batch of additional ribs bent over the Otca. Even got a few tacked in after they set for a while.

Over the weekend in between Granddad play, I finished replacing the bottom planking on the 1959 Otca and removed a few more ribs. Two steps forward, one back. I had to leave several damaged ribs in place to help define the shape of the hull, now that the midsection has been rebuilt I have to go back and replace the remaining bad ribs. This will happen in a more conventional manner: a few at a time in alternating positions with new ones bent over the outside of the hull, then installed inside and finally their remaining bad neighbors replaced. By doing this in stages you maintain the desired shape. Too many at one time or too close to each other and they will cause bulges.

While I was milling ribs I went ahead and ran a batch for a new Cheemaun but with all the old boats around who knows when they’ll get bent on the form!

I bought two more Otcas, both 18′ AA grade boats in decent shape. Old Town’s AA grade canoes were built with mahogany rails, seats, decks, and thwarts which really make for a beautiful boat! You typically don’t find too many AA boats but now I have three in the holding pattern. There’s going to be some fine canoes on the lakes this summer!

Wood darkened by the passage of time. Scars hinting at stories told by generations past. Seats that have been re-caned time and again. Each boat has its own history, its own personality even. When I first started building traditional wood canvas canoes it was the thrill of pulling a hull off the form that hooked me. It was a stretch from traditional woodworking where the end result depends on exact measurements, precise settings on tuned machines, and, above all else, the square. Once the milling of the lumber was done I was out of my comfort zone and digging out hand tools: planes, spoke shaves, rasps, and others unique to the trade like the clenching iron and crooked knife.

Transitioning from true and square to fair curves and lines was liberating but I still had the control of the form defining the shape of the hull. The thought of restoring an old hull still intimidated me but the memory remained of my grandfather’s old Gerrish, donated to a museum rather than restored. It wasn’t long after I started building that the first old boat found me and I took it in. That Old Town was my master’s degree, it was so far down the path to the clearing that it nearly got a Viking funeral. Now it has a new lease on life and paddles with grace, ready for another generation. Since re-launching that Guide a steady procession of old boats has come through the shop, each special in its own way and each teaching me more about this craft I have adopted.

The restoration work has displaced new construction to the point that I haven’t built a new hull in a year. These boats are family members in some cases. Others were treasured by owners no longer capable of doing more than gazing and remembering who knew it was time to ensure the boats would be used and appreciated. It’s an honor to be trusted with such work, a responsibility I don’t take lightly.

To pull a 20 year-old canvas off a boat approaching the century mark is truly uncovering history. When you remove the covering from these boats you see how they were put together. Sometimes you find a name or a note left by the last guy that worked on the canoe. In our disposable society it is indeed gratifying to practice a craft that filled factory floors when my grandfathers were young men but is now the domain of small builders scattered throughout the country (and Canada).

In an age where there’s an app for nearly every conceivable idea, it’s nice to disconnect, go down to the shop and hammer tacks through impossibly thin cedar.

After adjusting and nailing the rib ends, I removed the temporary braces that I used to sandwich the new ribs into alignment. The technique worked as hoped. The old Otca won’t be as fair as she once was but she’ll be vastly improved.

This one came all the way from Louisiana and has been in the same family its entire life so it’s a real honor to restore it for yet another generation. Overall it’s in good shape – a couple of broken ribs in the middle and a few more in the stern where it appears it suffered a collision or drop. Some minor planking damage in the bow as well. Two of the “broken” ribs in the midsection were actually cut and hidden by the floor rack trim rails. I didn’t find these until the trim rails were removed. These caused lumps in the planking so they came out along with the broken one. Thompson apparently used a lot of steel fasteners: all the bolts, staples for the canvas, nails for the ribs into the inwales, and more nails for the plank ends into the stems. The bolts all had to be cut and driven out. The small nails holding the plank ends to the stems have mostly dissolved so what’s left will get backed up with bronze.  Other than the cut ribs and steel, no real shocking surprises in breaking her down! Outwales, outside stems, and keel all came off without breakage.

Thompson before

Previously cut rib - that butt joint shoudn't be there

Broken bow plank

Cracked bow plank

Damaged bow planking removed

Damaged stern planking and ribs removed

Interior after removal

And here’s why you don’t use steel in boats:

Corroded bolts

These were identical bolts when this boat was built over 60 years ago.

As I stated in an earlier post, the normal procedure in replacing multiple broken ribs in a row would be to screw some bracing battens to the outside of the hull and replace every other rib then go back a few days later and do the ones you left to help define the shape. In this boat’s case the shape was already lost and I had to shed far more than I liked to get down to usable ribs and planking. I installed some new planking and braced the bottom but there still wasn’t enough boat to bend new ribs around so after a quick prebend on my Cheemaun form, they got bent into the old Otca. The results along the curve of the sides was predictably not so good with things not lining up. My goal for this boat is to produce a fair hull that’s as close to the original shape as possible. It probably won’t have as much tumblehome as it once did but I’ll trade that for fairing out the lumps and bumps that she had due to the old repairs. But how to accomplish this?

Double battens (with radiused edges to keep from digging into the soft cedar). Two pairs on each side, inner and outer clamped and zip-tied, where the curve of the hull is greatest and in need of the most help. Spanning from good to good with a few original ribs in the run to help define the curve. Once everything was clamped I covered the critical areas with towels and periodically poured boiling water over the towels and then left the towels in place overnight. I pulled the towels off this morning but will leave the hull in its cast for a few days in hopes that it will set in this shape as it dries out.

I made it by The Antique Boat Center’s open house Saturday. Lots of good wood with big motors!

Riva Ariston

26' 1930 Chris Craft

Original Chris Craft A120 Engine

28' 1929 Garwood Baby Gar

225 HP Kermath Sea Wolf Engine

Had a great time talking with Lou, Dennis, Bryan and the rest of the gang plus I added a trick or two to my bag for the shop!

I’ve been eyeballing the previous repairs on the Otca with a high degree of suspicion. The replacement planking and ribs didn’t look, feel, or smell like any type of cedar. So I wasn’t exactly shocked to find this:

Hey, you can mill any species of wood down to the dimensions used for ribs and planks but don’t expect the stuff to last! No wonder most of the replacement ribs forced into the boat years ago failed.

There are a few that I was going to leave but not after that find. They will stay long enough to help define the shape of the hull and then they will get replaced as well.

This 16 footer has been hiding in a garage for years. It needs a lot of work but will be a beauty when done since it’s AA grade, meaning all mahogany trim. Most Old Towns are CS grade with spruce rails, oak decks, thwarts, and seats. Not sure what the price will be yet – we’ll see how much time she takes. Let me know if you’re interested!

Normally new ribs would go in first, followed by removal of bad planking, then fasten new planking. This poor boat was so badly pushed out of shape I’m having to improvise in order to hopefully reclaim her original shape. I can’t set new ribs against air!

There’s going to be a good bit fairing by eye on this one.