This is a BIG canoe

bob welsh

bob welsh

Well-known member
Picked this 20 footer up in Grand Rapids, MN. It came out of Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba. The fellow I bought it from bought it from a duck guide after using this boat on a number of trips. This was in the 1960s, and he cartopped it on his Caddy.


My buddy that help me carry this to the shop


Stopped at my sons place in Duluth




 
great project ahead there Bob,

i restored an 18 foot sailing canoe a few years ago, it was a lot of work but fun.

these folks are a great source of information

http://forums.wcha.org/
 
I will put a tape on the beam this afternoon. I was so busy just getting it to my shop I didn't think of that. For comparison that canoe on the top rack is an old Grumman 20 ft double ender and that's considered a big one. Oh and that is just a small selection of boats. Tom, when I get it done lets race!
 
I think you've moved beyond canoe and into "boat" range. LOL. The lines aren't quite right, but that looks a bit like a Rangely Boat. I'd say it was designed for motor and oars, not paddles, except I don't see any oar locks.
 
I think you've moved beyond canoe and into "boat" range. LOL. The lines aren't quite right, but that looks a bit like a Rangely Boat. I'd say it was designed for motor and oars, not paddles, except I don't see any oar locks.
Click to expand...




It looks like there may be two sets of oar locks that can barely be seen on the stbd side.
 
Bob
Your gonna need a full war party of Indians to move that baby :-). What kinda shape is the wood in?
wis boz
 
What a great project boat! It reminds me of the canoes I spent my childhood in. Back then they were everywhere in northern Ontario, particularly on the Moose River where we lived.
 
Bob & Paul~

Is this what they call a freighter. They were everyewhere - OB-powered - in Moosonee ~ 1980.

No such thing as too many canoes - I picked another up 2 weeks ago and just passed on one on Sunday.

All the best,

SJS
 
If that's a 20 foot Grumman next to it, this canoe looks a LOT bigger than the freighter canoes I'm used to seeing up here. We have a lot of big motor canoes on the big lakes in northern Maine, but I don't think I've ever seen one quite that large.

I'm really interested in the dimensions when you get a chance to measure.
 
Steve, that is what I knew as a freighter and yes they are still everywhere up around Moosonee and many of the other communities along James Bay. When I was a child my family lived at mile 90 on the train in to Moosonee. If you have been there I am sure you can picture it. :)

I came across this website today. http://www.islandnet.com/~canoes/20ft_freighter.htm It looks like this guy is up the road from here. His freighter does not have the same beam as Bob's but it looks great. Check out the restorations page.
 
Paul
Were those canoes originally covered with canvas? Years ago I restored an Old Town canvas canoe and this baby will be a job to restore but beautiful when done.
wis boz
 
I thought this boat would be of interest to the forum. I measured the width at the widest, 58 inches. The planking is in good shape for about 90 per cent of the boat. The planking is a touch thicker than most canoes the I have done. The ribs are all in great shape except for two that need to be repaired. In many of the canoes you will find rot in the ends of the ribs at the gunnel but these are fine. In Maine a cousin of the freighter is the Grand Laker. There are two oarlocks on the same side but none on the other which makes me think that these were for a blind of some kind for one side. they look homemade and the holes for pins are pretty small. Yep thats a 20 grumman next to her. I also have a 19' square grumman.

Wis boz, I believe they are called Native Americans and its hard to find a group of them to paddle because they are to busy in there day jobs at the casino.
Tom, I thought the caddy bro-ham story was funny too.
 
That 58 inch beam would make this larger than a Scott Hudson Bay Freighter, which is 56 inches in beam in the standard format and 52 inches in the "Allagash-legal" version I usually see in Maine. (The Allagash limits travel to canoes, and has definitions for "canoe" that limit transom size and the width/length ratio of canoes.)

Scott makes a larger freighter called the James Bay that's even bigger, but I've never seen one. It's a beast, and IMHO over the line between canoe and boat: http://www.scottcanoe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=98

The reference to car topping is interesting. The Scott Hudson Bay is 250 pounds in fiberglass. I suppose two linebackers could cartop something that size, but it wouldn't be pretty!

This looks like a really cool project.

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top