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Thread: My Pride and Joy ...

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Shallotte, NC - USA
    Posts
    778

    Default My Pride and Joy ...

    When I first started out with a canoe, done so with what was available for the time and that was an Old Town wood/canvas canoe. Great little 15' canoe and I put it through it's paces. Times changed and aliminumm became the "thing". Then fiberglass, next came the plastics. Well, I traveled the whole route and after I retired just had to come back home to the orginal wood/canvas. Yes they require maintenance; yes they can be scratched and marred, requiring repair. And, yes ... I only use it in sandy bottomed rivers and mill ponds. True, can't leave it outdoors leaning against the garage all winter. However, nothing takes to the water so much as a wooden boat. The canoe does not float on the water, it glides over it! Let me tell you all about it ...
    It's a custom built 16' Cheeman, built by Tom Tompkins of Cedar Island Canoes. After Tom built the canoe for me he was so pleased with it that he has kept it posted on his web site. The first web site is information about Tom and Cedar Island Canoes and the different lines. The second goes right to some pixs of my canoe that were taken just before he delivered it to me.

    http://www.cedarislandcanoes.com/

    http://www.cedarislandcanoes.com/infost ... 101?page=2


    Dale

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Clara City, MN USA
    Posts
    1,756

    Default

    I've used my cedar strip canoe since 1991 and it's a beat up old boat by now. Pinned against rocks in rapids, and twice it withstood such disrespect. Punched a hole in the side. Just a fantastic fly fishing vessel, and you are so right about the gliding. It's like comparing a ballerina with a linebacker when you talk about other types of canoes. Won't go there with kayaks, which are a totally different animal. JGW

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Ithaca, NY USA
    Posts
    1,198

    Default oh yeah

    Dale, that is a work of art. What a beaut! Enjoy. And take photos while you're out and about so we can continue to drool.
    "If I'm not going to catch anything, then I 'd rather not catch anything on flies" ... Bob Lawless

  4. #4

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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Lakeland, FL USA
    Posts
    2,186

    Default

    Very nice boat. I hope that you only use bamboo rods and fish with classic flies when you fish out of it When I worked for N.H. Fish and Game Department (about 34 years ago) I actually got to help make and repair canoes just like those during the winter. We provided each Game Warden with his/her own canoe and you would not believe the rough treatment some of those guys would give those beauties. They came back with rips/tears and broken ribs all the time. We would take them apart and repair them in between making new ones. To bend the ribs, we used a ten foot piece of 2 inch steel pipe about 1/4 filled with water. One end of the pipe went into the big pot-bellied wood stove and when the steam was coming out the end of the pipe, we'd slide in a piece of wood to be used as a rib. After steaming it for about 30-45 minutes, we'd take it our and put it into the home made jig and clamp it in to get the desired shape. It was knid of primitive, but the man that taught me was a master carpenter and the canoes he made were beautifully made, super light and handled great. I'd love to have one now, but I think I'd be afraid to use it. I tend to like to by/use equipment that is utilitarian like graphit rods vs bamboo. Anyway, thanks for posting the photos as it brought back some nice memories.

    Jim Smith

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