{"id":358,"date":"2015-11-16T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T02:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bsterlingcasselton.com\/?page_id=358"},"modified":"2023-03-18T07:01:34","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T00:01:34","slug":"canoes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bsterlingcasselton.com\/?page_id=358","title":{"rendered":"Canoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There are canoes. It is estimated that nearly one-half million wood canvas or wood canoes were made in North America since late 1800’s. Approximately ten-thousand remain. Widjiwagan has about 1% of them. These are a few of the canoes and boats I’ve had joy to own, even for a little while.<\/p>\n

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Red is our 1959 Old Town, now restored and in New Orleans, and black is 16 1970 vintage Old Town. Sold to guy in northern Minnesota<\/p><\/div>\n

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Early 1900 Dingle Livery rowboat that it took some time to negotiate and some time to do the cosmetic repair. Hull was cracked but a classic look. Sold to antique dealer who then sold it to a mega-church. Rumor was that they would use it as an altar. There is another picture of it a few pics below this one.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The restored 1959 Old Town Fifty Pound Model. This was the canoe we used in our wilderness tripping while the kids were growing up and beyond. It remains in the family. Linda (some of you will know her as Melitta) is at the bow and Karen, one of the restorers, is by the stern. This canoe was originally made for St. Paul Red Cross and has plank seats instead of caned.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another picture of the restored 1959 Old Town Fifty Pound Model. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Joseph Dingle Boatworks of St. Paul almost finished painting. Such a nice-looking boat up close.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This is a great canoe with a good story behind it. It is a 1912 Morris canoe that once belonged to Joe Seliga, although it was not the 18 foot Morris that he used to design his Seliga canoes. He gave it to a friend of his, I got it from the friend and made the check out to Widjiwagan. There was a two year wait for the restorer to take it in then slowed down a bit due to a health issue, but it was finished in 2016. No longer able to carry such a big canoe, we donated it to the Wisconsin Canoe Museum, where it is on display. It is a rare (only three known to exist) because it has original factory mounted oarlocks. A very pretty canoe. Go see it in Spooner, Wisconsin. There are several before and after pictures of it on this page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This is the stern (cleaned up a bit, but before) of the 1912 Morris. It is serial #9200. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Here is a before picture of the 1912 Morris. Notice the oarlocks in the middle of the canoe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The tip of the 1912 Morris showing its age. Wait until you see what Dave Osborn (the restorer) did to fix it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The repaired tip on the 1912 Morris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The cleaned-up oarlocks on one side of the 1912 Morris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The unrestored straight on view of the 1912 Morris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At the Museum, the straight on view of the restored 1912 Morris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Picking up the 1912 Morris and bringing home to await restoration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Delivered to the Wisconsin Canoe Museum in Spooner, Wisconsin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The 1912 at new home, Wisconsin Canoe Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The former W. 3 before it again becomes w. 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another project we are proud of – the restoration and return of W. 3, the 1933 Thompson. Early on in the process damaged wood was removed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The finished bow of W. 3. More slides below.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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W. 3 and NORA, the last canoe Nora and Joseph Seliga worked on together. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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W. 3 on the water on Burntside Lake fifty two years after it last was taken out on those waters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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W. 3 in front of Trail Building, just before it went back in the water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This might be a Thompson. I bought it in Spooner before the Museum was there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another interesting story. Penn Yan canoe circa 1937 caned seats were used before the war. I refurbished it. Kids could use it close to shore when we went north for vacation. Sold it when first child went off to college. Might have been a mistake but it had gotten a bit small for us and we thought we could use the funds for books etc. Good memories of the boat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Here is another one we had but sold. A post-war 12 foot Penn Yan (notice plank seats. Not as pretty as the 8 foot Penn but we all fit (sort of), and it was quite responsive on the water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our 11 foot 1942 Old Town Fifty Pound Model. Cute little craft – probably best as solo boat but we’ve taken it out with two folks in it as but only on calm days.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Urban Boatbuilder apprentices building the 15 foot Cheemaun circa 2010.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The 15 foot Cheemaun that apprentices at Urban Boatbuilders built in 2010. UBB sold it to a guy in Minneapolis, and I bought it from him a few months later. It is a pretty canoe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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An 18 foot Morris but the serial number tag was missing, so I am not sure of its number or age. I bought it at an auction and got a great deal. I donated it to UBB because they were equipped to handle a restoration, but I think they sold it to a Minneapolis Morris collector (he had three, so I figured that makes him a collector).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I couldn’t figure out the make and sent photos to people I thought might know but it stumped us enough that we decided it was a kit canoe made popular in the 1950’s through magazines like Popular Mechanic. It cleaned up nicely and made a great two-tone wall hanger. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This is the black canoe that appears in the first photo above. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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It was a long, windy trip home from northern Michigan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Practice flipping back when I could flip. I can’t recall what happened to this cane except I used it as the inspiration for an attempted metal sculpture that would hold this actual canoe but I used to hang Christmas lights on one year. Can’t recall what became of the sculpture either.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One of my favorite places. There are 24 canoes in the rafters awaiting restoration – half Seliga and half Old Town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This wasn’t my canoe, but it looked so cool. It was a borrowed Mad River, but the person we borrowed it doesn’t recall that. I guess I didn’t need to worry about the scratches we put in the ABS hull. We also had two wood Seligas. This picture was taken in NWT. Big water but can’t recall name of lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Someone shared this with me on-line. They said, and I think I agree, that it looks like a Thompson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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1938 picture of Widjiwagan staff in what might have been a Camp canoe or perhaps it was borrowed from the Anderson’s (who had rental cabins on Burntside). The historical record is unclear. I’ve read both versions in the archives. This picture came from the collection of Wilbur Jeffries, the first caretaker Camp in the 1930s and 1940s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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There are canoes. It is estimated that nearly one-half million wood canvas or wood canoes were made in North America since late 1800’s. Approximately ten-thousand remain. Widjiwagan has about 1% of them. These are a few of the canoes and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bsterlingcasselton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/358"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bsterlingcasselton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bsterlingcasselton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bsterlingcasselton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bsterlingcasselton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":64,"href":"https:\/\/bsterlingcasselton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872,"href":"https:\/\/bsterlingcasselton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/358\/revisions\/872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bsterlingcasselton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}