Red's Tremblay

[Iskweo]

If I didnt have the twin sister to this sitting in the boathouse I would be sad to see it go. As it is, I think I may have a use for mine later on. I also have my little Huron to resurrect.

This old warrior is sure cool to look at though. They just ooooze history, if only they could talk. Another one back on the water and time to put the next one into the shop. What shall it beeeee.

And if you think we are getting obsessive, you ought to see Doug Ingram's back yard. HA! We are small time compared to the master.


Christy

 

[Odyssey]

I change my mind. I didn't like the stripy seats at first. I like them now. They look plaid. I love plaid.
Gosh that brass band looks good. I had no idea how much work was involved. Beautiful.
It seems to me that shiny plastic canoes shout "Get a load of me!"
W/C canoes whisper "Remember me?"
Ya, that sure is cool to look at. Thanks for sharing Red's Tremblay.

 

[Mihun09]

So, the boat gets it's new life beginning today, it has gone back home.

Red spoke with the original owner and can add some of the history of the boat if he wishes, but I do have the photo's he took when he got the boat home and stripped the glass from it.







and now this...





On it's way home...



My next project in the shop...



Christine's Winter project...

 

[Mihun09]

It was also cool meeting Red today and showing him the other boats we have and just talking canoeing for a couple of hours. Just cannot get tired of doing that especially on a crappy Autumn day.

 

[Robin]

Very nice, the red against those dark gunnels has a nice look to it, the stem bands really top it off. That was a nice thread, thanks for taking the time to let us into your shop.

I told you that Morris was in bad shape, I forgot about the black taped stem cover you had to devise to get it home from Geraldton...ouch, I bet my name mixed with some choice 4 letter words will be mutter during that build.

Nice radio, nice think about that is you can work on it in a heated house.

 

[Mihun09]

Very nice, the red against those dark gunnels has a nice look to it, the stem bands really top it off. That was a nice thread, thanks for taking the time to let us into your shop.

I told you that Morris was in bad shape, I forgot about the black taped stem cover you had to devise to get it home from Geraldton...ouch, I bet my name mixed with some choice 4 letter words will be mutter during that build.

Nice radio, nice think about that is you can work on it in a heated house.

All is good, we knew what we were getting with the Morris. I've started picking at it already. Fibre Glass on the inside, oh my.

We shall overcome.

 

[red langford]

It was fun talking canoeing. I could do that for days I'm sure. It was too bad I had to rush off to pick up that bike, which I just made it before they closed.

Canoe arrived safe and sound back to it's home and boy does it look good on that red Toyota. Lol, like the editing on the plate. Left the important bit in there.

It will see the water this week and I take some photos and post them. Thanks again.

I think the Morris is going to be a challenge for sure.

 

[red langford]

Imagine sitting in the living room on a cold winters evening, the fake fire roaring away, curled up with a good book and warm beverage listing to the rich sounds of CBC's Vinyl Tap coming out of that radio dreaming about your next canoe trip.

 

[Odyssey]

I may only be in my 50's, but even I can remember black and white TV. An old Motorola set sat on spindly legs in the basement. It wasn't yet the family rec room of the 70's, it was still the boys' wreck room of the 60's. (We weren't blessed with sisters.) There were chalked hockey net outlines on the cement block walls, and piles of kids' equipment and junk sat well away from dad's neat and tidy work shop, and mom's neat and tidy laundry room. The old TV was ours to "watch" whenever we chose, while the "good" TV was in pride of place upstairs. The "good" one was colour naturally. There was a perpetual blizzard on the Motorola every time we sat down to watch hockey or cartoons. It took a lot of concentration to figure out who was playing whom, and just who had the puck.
Over in a corner sat a big piece of furniture. We didn't quite know what to make of it. It was a radio naturally, but it was far too grand and sophisticated to have been relegated to the basement. The radio came with a stern warning..."No stick handling or rough stuff around this boys. Don't touch!" It looked roughly like yours Iskweo & Mihun, only in better days. The woodwork was polished and the knobs and dials worked smoothly. The backlit dial screen glowed a soft amber as I'd glide up and down the numbers. I'd eventually give up trying to coax music from it, unplug it, and cover it back up with an old bed sheet. I wonder what ever happened to that old radio?
I don't see many of those old radios in any flea markets or antique shops. I wish you luck with the radio rescue. There are likely sources somewhere for replacement tubes and transistors. I know you'll have fun with the wood restoration. Just like Red says, it'll be a treat to listen to when it's done.

 

[Momentum]

Mihun, Very nice restoration. You must be quite happy with it.
Just so I know, how many hours did it take for you to take it from the poor state it was in, to the beautiful craft we see before us? If you don't mind, could you provide me with a material cost too?

I'm just considering taking on a "project" for after my own build, but am not really sure what I'm getting myself into. I think I may have caught your fixit bug.

 

[Mihun09]

Mihun, Very nice restoration. You must be quite happy with it.
Just so I know, how many hours did it take for you to take it from the poor state it was in, to the beautiful craft we see before us? If you don't mind, could you provide me with a material cost too?

I'm just considering taking on a "project" for after my own build, but am not really sure what I'm getting myself into. I think I may have caught your fixit bug.

Considering one are you? Once you do the first, you will want more, and your wife will be looking at you sideways as you cruise Kijiji looking for "just one more"

If you do get into it, spend a lot of time at the WCHA forums gathering information. Just about anything you need to know is there. Buy a copy of the wood/canvas canoe bible... http://store.wcha.org/The-Wood-and-Canvas-Canoe.html

This time around I didn't keep track of time, but somewhere between 80 and 100 hours I would think. I didn't need to repair/replace any full ribs but had enough hours picking resin from between planking.

Material cost. Christine has been insisting I be more accurate as we try to spin this into a full time business. So, right down the the last screw, $430.

We bought a roll of canvas, enough to do 3 boats so it cut that cost. Our big ticket item is clear eastern white cedar. None available in Manitoba. We bought 83 BF last winter for $400.

Now, are you going to restore or repair? We tend to restore, meaning we use the same woods as originally used, for just repair you could use similiar. Being a furniture maker I'm fairly certain you would go for the restoration end of it.

Anything else you need to know, feel free to ask.

Karin

 

[Momentum]

Thanks so much for the info Karin. I'm just kinda feeling out what it would take to restore these pieces of history. They are not "just boats" They are vessels of someones past. Maybe a means of transportation, maybe a way to put food on the table, maybe a ticket to a magical journey of a lifetime. Each has its own story.
Sorry, got a little sappy there (sniff, sniff).

I have done a little searching to see what's out there, and actually found a 14ft cedar/canvas canoe that aparently needs work. The guy said he could not post pics because he didn't have a camera, but the price seemed right at $150. He lives about 1 1/2 hours away from me so I'm not sure if It worth it to take 3 hours on a chance.

Ok, as I am very aware of my lack of spare time, 80+ hours seems a little daunting if I really think about it. I know how long it has taken my own build to get to the stage it is at, and that one really should take somewhere in the neighborhood of 120-160 hours, or so I have been told. I know I have probably racked up a bit more than that to this point, and I'm not done yet. My family and various health issues we have, have always taken precedence and priority over anything else, so my own hobbies and interests will continue to be put on the shelf, to be dusted off and picked up again when possible.

I think your costs are actually quite reasonable given the result, especially if the customer is paying for this or you'll end up selling the item when done. I guess all costs need to be assessed with the thought that there has to be some one ready willing and able to pay for the restoration.

Hmmm, lots to think about here.

Thanks again Karin

Steve

 

[Mihun09]

Thanks so much for the info Karin. I'm just kinda feeling out what it would take to restore these pieces of history. They are not "just boats" They are vessels of someones past. Maybe a means of transportation, maybe a way to put food on the table, maybe a ticket to a magical journey of a lifetime. Each has its own story.
Sorry, got a little sappy there (sniff, sniff).

I have done a little searching to see what's out there, and actually found a 14ft cedar/canvas canoe that aparently needs work. The guy said he could not post pics because he didn't have a camera, but the price seemed right at $150. He lives about 1 1/2 hours away from me so I'm not sure if It worth it to take 3 hours on a chance.

Ok, as I am very aware of my lack of spare time, 80+ hours seems a little daunting if I really think about it. I know how long it has taken my own build to get to the stage it is at, and that one really should take somewhere in the neighborhood of 120-160 hours, or so I have been told. I know I have probably racked up a bit more than that to this point, and I'm not done yet. My family and various health issues we have, have always taken precedence and priority over anything else, so my own hobbies and interests will continue to be put on the shelf, to be dusted off and picked up again when possible.

I think your costs are actually quite reasonable given the result, especially if the customer is paying for this or you'll end up selling the item when done. I guess all costs need to be assessed with the thought that there has to be some one ready willing and able to pay for the restoration.

Hmmm, lots to think about here.

Thanks again Karin

Steve

So this guy who doesn't have a camera also doesn't own a cell phone right?

If you have an interest in restoring one boat, then do some research on what to look for when out shopping, this site is very good for the details to look at for identifying what we call UFO's, or canoes without labels on them. http://dragonflycanoe.com/wood-canoe-identification-guide/
Stick with the Canadian boat references primarily although you might find some US boats if you are in Southern Ontario. Be careful, some sellers will insist the boat has canvas despite the fact it has FG, or they cannot tell the difference. We have also seen "Chestnut" decals on boats that were not Chestnuts.

Buy a boat you want to keep in your family, restore and use. That would be the best option. You can take your time working on it, although 20 years might be a tad long. There really isn't a rush to find the right boat for you. Finish your stripper and go paddle it, you have all Winter to find the other boat if you choose to go that route. That would also give you time to source materials and get an idea of costs for you to do one.

For me it is quality time in the shop, peace and quiet working with wood.

 

[red langford]

No Title

At long last the Tremblay has made it's maiden voyage. I picked it up late October and the weather was not terribly grand. It did see the water but very briefly and it wasn't a true paddle. So off it went into storage. Spring has been a bit hectic and I had one single overnight trip in the Langford canoe before my 10 day solo let alone pleasure paddles.

So as is so often the case around these parts I run into some very interesting people and a few weeks ago met somebody from Germany who was heading out for two weeks in WCPP. And as it turned out we came out of the park the same day sharing a shuttle with Goldseekers Albert. Well we get to talking and Sunday night we had this German fellow over to the house for dinner and few Canadian Whiskies. After dinner I said hey, let's take the Tremblay out for it's maiden voyage. So we quickly loaded up and went up the road 5 minutes and launched at a place called Skookum Bay on Red Lake.

What a treat! Max the German tourist was very very happy to have the opportunity to paddle this "piece of art" as he kept calling it. Here are some pictures of the maiden voyage.

The biggest thank you to Karin and Christine for this wonderful boat. I am forever indebted to you both.

 

[Odyssey]

Max knows a piece of art when he sees one. Beautiful canoe, and beautifully restored.
Max also knows a good and friendly tripper when he meets one. I bet you made his trip all the more memorable Red. I wonder how many wood canvas canoes there are back in Germany?

 

[Mihun09]

Well, this old canoe came back for a visit while we were up at Ear Falls on a fishing vacation. At it's home in Red Lake it suffered from a hail storm last year and needed some loving attention.

The canvas was breached in 4 places, planking shattered under those spots. Rather than re-canvas, which it really needs, we decided to cut out the bad spots, place a new piece of canvas beneath, soak with polyester resin and just paint over the rest after a thorough sanding of the cracked paint and filler.

In the one photo the rocks are holding down the canvas patches to get a good flat bond.

The canoes new temporary home is at Pakwash Lake Camp for our friend Kim to use for her pickerel fishing instead of her having to use the old flat back aluminium craft.

 

[Mihun09]

Danged thing keeps logging me out when trying to upload photos. Says it timed out, but that only takes seconds. Oh well.

 

[red langford]

Wow! Surprised some ribs were broken. That was some serious hail. Glad it has a new home It was great seeing both of you and hope you got your fill of Walleye.;-)

 

[Mihun09]

Always good seeing you as well Red. It was planking that was broken but mostly fixed and we found out that Kim loves the canoe, she took it out yesterday after we left.

We had our fair share of pickerel and perch. Perch being the better tasting of the two. I had a great time with the Northern Pike, caught and released 7, 30-33" length of very thick fish and Friday night, near dark, got into a couple of nice smallmouth bass, 17 1/2 and 18".

It was awesome fishing and we are already booked for next year and I hope to get back there late Summer.

 

[Iskweo]

Repairing this was a nice little diversion and some entertainment for the neighbours.at Pakwash. It might have gone faster if we had brought a sander with us. As it was I did all the sanding by hand....quite a bit of work. Fortunately there were refreshments. And I looked fabulous while doing it...lol.

I managed to get out with it one rather blowy day when we had some waves to contend with. I was suitably impressed. It handled the rollers nicely. The wind was not really a problem either. You just had to be rough with it. A lovely little canoe, if a bit heavy.

I even managed to catch a bass while dragging a jig so it was a really nice paddle.

Christy