by Mike Elliott, Kettle River Canoes
This Old Canoe: How To Restore Your Wood-Canvas Canoe will be launched in April 2016. If you would like to reserve a signed copy, send me an email request: artisan@canoeshop.ca
Here is the introduction that explains the approach of the book as well as its structure and content.
From This . . .
To This . . .
Introduction
There is something special about wood-canvas canoes. Indeed, if you are reading this book, you are doing so because you probably grew up in canvas-covered canoes. You paddled them at summer camps; your grandfather taught you how to fish in them; your family shared wilderness adventures made possible by your faithful, old canoe. It is part of the family. The connection is hard to put into words but is as strong as any other family relationship.
These canoes have an elegance born in nature and are shaped by the elements that surround them. They are as beautiful as they are functional. They seem to move and breathe as part of the environment – part of you. However, in the latter part of the 20th century, aluminum and fiberglass canoes flooded the market along with their low-cost production methods. They pushed their labour-intensive canvas-covered cousins into obscurity. But family ties are strong. When a wood-canvas canoe becomes old and battered, it is carefully tucked away in the back of a shed or in the rafters of a barn. For whatever reason, most people who own wood-canvas canoes are loathe to part with them. What strikes me is that they were designed, from the outset, to be repaired and restored to their former glory.
Unfortunately, the methods and skills required for canoe restoration are from a by-gone age. In the pages that follow, my goal is not only to help you restore your canoe, but to help preserve the skills that make it possible. This book provides the specific knowledge and techniques required to transform your old, rotten, forgotten canoe into a treasured family heirloom that can bring delight to you and others for decades to come.
Built to be Rebuilt
Your wood-canvas canoe is held together (almost exclusively) with tacks, screws and bolts. In fact, many have no glue in them at all. Consequently, any component that rots or breaks can be repaired or replaced. Once you understand the basic principles governing the behavior of wood and canvas, you will be able to rebuild your canoe.
Many years ago, my friend Richard Reid and I crawled under the back deck of his home in Christina Lake, BC to retrieve his canoe. He had not looked at it for almost 20 years and had no plans to use it again. My wife, Christy, looked at it doubtfully once we had it out on the lawn. Moss had grown a couple of inches thick and was hanging off the gunwales. Mice had chewed away the rawhide lacing in the seats as well as the better part of a couple of ribs. “Do you know how to fix it?” she asked. I smiled at her. We both knew that my woodworking skills were limited to say the least. In this, my first canoe restoration, I followed the adage: “When there is a will, there is a way”. At the time, the only power tools I owned were a variable speed drill and a random-orbital sander. As it turns out, the main advantage I had was the fact that I didn’t know what I was doing. All I knew for certain was that I wanted to bring this canoe back to life.
As my experience grew from weekend hobby to full-time business, I have collected more power tools and a wide assortment of specialized jigs and forms. Even so, there is one thing that is required above all else. It ensures the success of a restoration. Without it, you are doomed before you begin. A little Zen story will illustrate my point.
Zen in the Art of Canoe Restoration
A Zen master and his student were walking together across a bridge when the student asked, “Master, what is Zen?” Before the student had a chance to react, the Zen master picked him up and threw him off the bridge into the river below.
Zen is the moment – right here, right now. Zen masters have written thousands of books in an attempt to explain the unexplainable. As the student hurtled through the air towards the water in the river, he was totally consumed in the moment. No past – no future – just now.
So, what does this have to do with wood-canvas canoes? I have found that a successful canoe restoration demands a mind and body that work together in the present moment. As soon as I rush things, I make mistakes and have to start all over again. As soon as I think of myself as the expert, I find something I’ve never come across before. As soon as I think the task is simple, I get bogged down in complex problems. As soon as I obsess over technical aspects and try to think my way through them, everything grinds to a halt in a mass of frustration. And the more I try to get out of my head and get back to “the moment”, the worse the frustrations become.
For me, a canoe restoration is an opportunity to immerse myself in the moment – now and now and now and now. When I succeed, the hammer drives the tacks straight into the wood – almost by itself. The hot, steamed wood bends to hug the canoe in a warm embrace. The work flows and I lose track of time.
However, as soon as I try to take credit for the accomplishment or repeat the masterful actions of the past, everything goes wrong. I bend a new rib over the canoe only to find that it is upside-down and has to be thrown away. The air of the shop is filled with my not-so-quiet curses.
In those moments, I endeavor to see the cloud of frustration as a gift. Sometimes at least, I am able to catch myself and laugh at the situation and – with any luck – laugh at my approach to it. I take a deep breath and shake my head. Instead of trying to change the situation, I revel in the fact that I am feeling frustrated. I practice learning how to accept the experience for what it is. When I succeed in truly embracing it – and myself – just the way it is right now, things tend to turn around. Paradoxically, as soon as I try to hold onto my feelings of frustration, they vanish and the rest of the day tends to flow a little more smoothly.
Perfection is Impossible
When it comes right down to it, you are not working on your old wood-canvas canoe, you are working with it. You and your canoe are active partners in search of a successful conclusion. You must listen to your canoe and accept its strengths and limitations. There will be times when you want one thing and your canoe simply has something else in mind. You must be prepared for times when things don’t go as planned. The fact is, when things work out the first time, it will be the exception rather than the rule.
The minute you try to force the issue, your canoe will remind you who is in charge. Let your mind wander and your canoe will shake you back to reality. Think for a moment that you know what you are doing and your canoe will show you otherwise.
Mistakes are the engine of learning and mastery. Indeed, in order to allow your body to learn anything, you must give it permission to screw up. However, you are starting down a particularly challenging path. A friend of mine, a master carpenter with 25 years experience, ran from the room a few hours into a canoe restoration and wished me luck on my crazy adventure.
Your canoe may have been made in a factory as one of thousands in the production line. However, after four or five decades, it is unique. The lines are no longer completely fair. The wood is no longer smooth and even. Abraham Lincoln said, “Every man over forty is responsible for his face.” So too, the life of your canoe is written in every crack and warp in its venerable hull.
I use a lot of photographs to illustrate the techniques I describe in this book. Bear in mind that I have the luxury of selection. If I were to illustrate the mistakes as well as the successes, this book would be a twenty volume set.
My hope is that by presenting some of my successes and alerting you to some of the pitfalls, your canoe restoration will be rewarding, enjoyable and successful.
How To Use This Book
Rebuilding an old canoe is a completely different enterprise from that of building a brand new one and requires an altogether different mindset. This book is set up in a step-wise manner to help you through the entire process. The chapters are arranged in the same order you would follow in the actual restoration. The key to success is to pull your old canoe out of the shed and get to work. This book is meant to be used in the shop as you work on your canoe. Feel free to write notes in the margins. Indeed, I have provided a few pages at the back of the book for your own notes about canoe restoration procedures.
This book presents one approach to the restoration of wood-canvas canoes. I’m sure you have other ideas that work better than those discussed here. My hope is that this book provides you with a good foundation for further refinements to the process.
Chapter 1 discusses the equipment and materials required to do your project as well as a basic understanding of the wood-canvas canoe. Chapter 2 takes you through the process of assessing your canoe and planning the restoration. The restoration begins in Chapter 3 by exploring how to take your canoe apart. Chapter 4 starts the process of rebuilding your canoe by making or repairing the inwales, outwales, stems and decks. This work often involves bending wood, so that process is described in this chapter as well The hull is restored in Chapter 5 by making or repairing ribs and planks. Seats and thwarts are discussed in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 explains how to replace the old canvas with a new one. Then, the canvas is filled, so I discuss some options for that. The chapter ends with a discussion of some alternatives to canvas. The process of making and installing a new keel and stem-bands is explored in Chapter 8. Paint and varnish are applied in Chapter 9 followed by the final assembly and finishing details in Chapter 10.
A canoe is not fully restored until you are able to transport it safely, store it correctly and deal with minor mishaps when they occur. All of this is presented in Chapter 11. Chapter 12 provides technical dimensions for a variety of specific canoes that are each representative of many other makes and models. The book concludes with a list of resources to help make your canoe restoration a success.
The Devil is in the Details
Wood-canvas canoes are constructed with time-honoured methods and materials. However, “the devil is in the details” and it is those details that I explore in this book. Enjoy.
