Identity

The canoe has now been identified! I was told by a canoe expert that this canoe is a Huron canoe, probably made in the Huron village in Quebec. Some of the details indicate building practises from the late 50's onwards. This confirms my suspicion that the canoe is not 100 years old, but probably from the early sixties. I am still excited, we could have been "born" in the same year!

With winter coming, I have made some cohabiting arrangements to get the car and the canoe in the garage. The canoe is hanging close to the roof and with the pulley system that I have installed, will get it up and down with very little hassle. I am ready to start the actual restoration project.

Raised from the ground

Since I am a tall person, working on the ground does not seem too attractive at this stage in my life. I got some 2x4's, 2x2's and due to a lack of anything else I could find in the store, a 5 foot length of rubber mat which I intend to cut up into 2 strips (with lots of replacement material left if need be) in which to hang the canoe frame. Time will tell if my support frames/trestles are sturdy enough, but as long as they serve my project, I am ready for the real work to begin.

Trestles are ready!

The fisrt part of the project will be to restore the bow and stern, as well as getting the outer gunwales made up for installion. The BEFORE pictures:

Close-up on outer gunwale profile, inner gunwale and ribs.  

Stern (and bow) damage and missing decks.

Identification

All good canoe restoration projects start with an understanding of what model canoe we are dealing with. Since this is said to be an antique, I look with referent appreciation at the sceleton now in my garage. It could have easily been mistaken for the rib case of a whale! Nevertheless, my purpose is to get it back to its original look and for that I have to do some research. It did cross my mind that other restorators might already have completed half the work by this time, but ok, I first need some trestles to put it on.

Missing the decks, outer gunwales and the bow and stern needs to be refinished.