Issue 176, April 2013 Volume 36 No. 2 - Wooden Canoe Heritage ...

Keewaydin’s Canoe Fleetby Dylan SchoelzelAsk anyone who has attended Keewaydin,a canoe tripping camp in Temagami, Ontario,what they remember about camp,and one of the first answers they will certainlygive you is the camp’s wooden canoes.Founded by A.S. Gregg Clarke, Keewaydinfirst began leading canoe trips for young boysand men through the north woods of Mainein 1893. Keewaydin, the Ojibway word fornorthwest wind, has been in continuous operationsince its founding year and is home to theworld’s largest fleet of working wood-and-canvascanoes—125 in total.Each canoe may travel anywhere from 200to 600 miles each summer throughout Ontario,Quebec, Labrador, and Manitoba. They crossvast lakes through all types of winds and weather.They are paddled upstream to cross heights ofland. They hold loads in excess of 700 poundsas they travel downstream on some the wildestrivers in Canada—the Eastmain, the Rupert, andthe Great Whale. They have even carried theirpassengers through safe passage on the watersof Hudson Bay.Clarke’s core belief from the beginningwas to provide an education for boys by havingthem travel through the remote wilderness.He recognized that there was great merit andbenefit to what young boys could achieve in thewilderness. Their experiences and what theyKeewaydin continued on page 29Above. Keewaydin Section 1, the oldest girls’ section, heads out every summer on a seven-week trip that includes rapids on the CorvetteRiver in northern Quebec.Photo credit: Bright DicksonBelow, left. Section A after a portage around a gorge on the Nastapoka River in Northern Quebec.Below, right. Cathryn Chivers and Katie Paine running rapids on the Otoskwin River in Northern Ontario.Photo credit: below left and right both Keewaydin collection.

date between 1903-1915 but do not show upin the catalogs until about 1920.The Chestnut Era—1925-1979When McCleod retired from canoe building,in about 1925, the camp beganpurchasing canoes from the Chestnut CanoeCompany in Fredericton, New Brunswick.This marked the beginning of a relationshipthat lasted more than fifty years.During the Chestnut era, the canoe fleetbecame standardized with two models—theChestnut Cruiser and the Chestnut Prospector.One of the unique features of the Keewaydincanoe during this time period was the“wannigan” rib. Wannigans are wooden boxesthat hold food and supplies. Wannigan ribswere created by Keewaydin and installed intheir canoes by Chestnut at the factory. Theseribs are smaller in width and are clinch-nailedover the main ribs in the canoe. There aretypically six wannigan ribs per canoe, threeon each side of the center thwart, positionedon every other rib starting with the two centerribs. Wannigans are almost always loadedtwo to a canoe, one on each side of the centerAbove. Running the rapids inbirch bark canoes.Right. Wide-board canoe. Bothof the photos were taken before1910.Credit: Both Keewaydin collection30 Wooden Canoe

Rebuilding Keewaydin No. 36Norumbega and Northern Lakes Chapters Tackle Restoration for Annual WCHA AuctionFor the second year, the Norumbega Chapter is undertakinga canoe restoration project the results of whichwill be raffled at Assembly 2013. The canoe is No. 36 fromCamp Keewaydin, Temagami Lake, Ontario. A ChestnutCronje, it has seen a lot of hard use and several previousrebuilds. (According to Dylan Schoelzel of Salmon FallsCanoe, who refurbishes Keewaydin canoes, the Cronje wasa nickname for the 17-foot Cruiser. He says that each ofthe Chestnut canoes had a telegraph code; the one for a17-foot cruiser was Cronje.) Norumbega decided to undertakethe restoration and the Northern Lakes Chapterdonated the canoe and will supply a wannigan and someequipment appropriate to Keewaydin tripping. The wholepackage will then be raffled at Assembly 2013.The restoration, in fact, is not going to be a completerestoration, but a rebuild of the canoe just as the Keewaydinshop would have done to it in preparation for a returnto service, readying it for more trips to Hudson’s Bay.by Steve LapeyThe Cronje arrived from Canada in the fall with thelarge letter “K” at the stern and the fleet number “36” onthe bow. Our plan was to repaint it in the same huntergreen with the same markings on the sides. In October,the first crew of Norumbega members arrived at my shopto analyze the project and strip it down to the bare hull.We removed the canvas, the outwales, and the stem bandsalong with the seats and thwarts. It was apparent that atleast six ribs would need to be replaced, and a lot of newplanking would be in order.Six ribs were removed along with a lot of brokenplanking. There were two broken ribs right next to eachother in the center of the canoe that required some supportwhen bending in the new ones. We ended up usingfour battens clamped to the famous “wannigan ribs” andmanaged to keep the shape of the canoe at least as goodas it was when it arrived here.On the next weekend, Paul Kelly and Lyle Lemon spentSaturday morning cutting, fitting, and tacking much of thenew planking, and in the afternoon we did some resawingand planing of some 3 ⁄8-inch rib stock from clear northernwhite cedar. The Cronje ribs are 2 3 ⁄16 inches wide and are cuton one side with a 90 degree cut; the other side is beveled20 degrees. It was necessary to taper the straight side towardthe ends after cutting the blanks to length. Later that monthwe spent a weekend working on the ribs. Bill Clements, TomBickford and Paul Kelly gathered on a Saturday for the ribbingadventure, and what an adventure it was! The new ribs wereall milled, tapered, and sanded; we put all of them in the steamAbove. After the canoe was canvassed and filled, it went intostorage for five weeks. Then it was sanded and received twocoats of primer. The filler needs that much time to fully curebefore the paint can start to be applied.Right. With a coat of hunter green enamel and the outwales inplace, the Cronje started to look like a canoe again. Remainingwork to be done includes the installation of seats and thwarts,stem bands, and more paint and varnish.Credit: All photos Steve LapeyIssue 176 April 2013 33

Above, left: Bill Clements and Tom Bickford contemplating the installationof some new ribs. Bill, Tom, Paul Kelly, and Steve Lapeyworked one Saturday on bending and installing some of the replacementribs. It was a frustrating operation and toward the end of theday, the team ran out of steam. Paul returned the next day; he andSteve finished up the troublesome job.Above, right. A smiling Paul Kelly after the last replacement rib wassuccessfully installed.Right. A good group of helpers made this day’s work go quickly:(l-r)Lyle Lemon, Benson Gray, Paul Kelly, and Marshall McKee rubbingthe filler into the number 8 canvas that we stretched and stapled onearlier in the day.Right. The rails clamped in place andthe screw holes were drilled thanks toa great crew of workers—(l-r) TomBickford, Mat Cox, John Fitzgerald,John Fiske, Gary Amirault, PaulShirley, Henry Cox, and Bill Clements.First, they drove a steel screwin each hole and then the steel screwswere removed and replaced with thenew brass, square-drive screws thatare the same as Chestnut used whenthe canoe was built. The reason fordriving in the steel screws first is toavoid twisting the heads off of thesoft brass screws as they go into thefairly hard wood.Issue 176 April 2013 35