Sectional Canoes

A canoe takes up a fair amount of space to store or to transport. It is not surprising that people have been looking for ways to get around this problem for as long as canoes have been made.

Dr. C. M. Douglas’ decked sectional canoe “Harmony”

Harmony a decked sectional canoe built in 1863/64

The well-known canoe “Harmony”, built in 1863/64, a decked sectional canoe owned, paddled and described in many magazine articles by Dr. C. M. Douglas, was likely the world’s first sectional canoe. It is also speculated that it inspired the building in 1865 of the Scotsman John MacGregor’s very famous “Rob Roy” decked cruising canoe. 

Dr. Douglas had “Harmony” built in England in 1863/64 by William Biffen of Hammersmith, near London. W. Biffen was a well-known boat builder of rowing skiffs and an inventor with a patent for sectional rowing shells under his belt. It is believed that Dr. Douglas saw W. Biffen’s exhibit of a yacht’s portable boat and sectional racing shells at the London International Exhibition in 1862 and commissioned Harmony built after the same concept. Harmony is 19'-10" long and with a beam of 24".

Originally, Harmony was a sectional canoe of three parts for ease of shipping and storing. Dr. Douglas used her for a couple of years in England. Then, on being assigned duty in India, Harmony was shipped to Lake Charles near Quebec City, where she was stored for 19 years. When he retired from service in 1882 Dr. Douglas brought her to his newly acquired farm Northcote in Lakefield, Ontario. He later converted her into a one-peace decked canoe and raced “Harmony” successfully for many years as a member of the Toronto Canoe Club. Newspapers of the time noted that Dr. Douglas often beat competitors who where 25 years younger paddling canoes which were 25 years newer.

Today “Harmony” can be found in the collections of the Canadian Canoe Museum.

Walter Dean Canoe & Boat Co

The well-known canoe builder Walter Dean of Toronto designed and patented what was probably the first North American made sectional canoe in 1898. Dean described the vessel in his 1898 catalogue: 

'We now come to something entirely novel and startling in the idea of cutting a canoe in pieces and making it sufficiently strong and water-tight". 

The canoe was built in three sections which nested inside each other for ease of transportation to the intended market in the north and specifically the Klondike gold rush. This canoe model was so successful that in 1898-99, Walter Dean had to enlarge the boat shop four times.The canoe sold well, but as the gold rush dwindled so did the demand for the Klondike sectional canoe.

Ontario Provincial Air Service

The next generation of sectional canoes was developed by Jack F. Hyde of Ontario Provincial Air Service. In the spring of 1924 the Ontario Provincial Air Service was formed by the Ontario Government to help protect the province’s vast forests. They set up their headquarters at the edge of St. Mary’s River in Sault St. Marie with their initial fleet of 13 World War I surplus Curtiss HS-2L flying boats.

Jack F. Hyde had joined the Air Service in 1924 as a rigger/fitter. He was adept at finding innovative solutions to operating problems and was soon appointed aircraft foreman and in 1929 Plant Superintendent.

Longitudinal sectional canoe

Beaching and mooring a flying boat was often a difficult task which would have been much easier if the crew had a canoe. Hyde designed a traditional canvas covered canoe which was split down the keel in two sections. These sections were secured to either side of the flying boat’s fuselage, forming two fairly aerodynamically acceptable bumps. When need arose to use the canoe, the two halves were merely removed and assembled. 

It is likely that Hyde had a little help to start with from two Sault St. Marie canoe builders; Joseph and Ben Richards from J.A. Richards & Sons, later St. Mary’s Canoes, who had been in business nearby since 1912, building traditional canvas covered canoes. 

Hyde’s first longitudinal sectional canoe design was followed by others as new airplanes replaced the flying boats.

In 1927 new designs were patented which divided the canoes crosswise in three and four sections respectively, still using the same simple, quick and effective assembly system. 

The Air Service built the sectional canoes for their own use as well as for the Ontario Forestry Branch.

In 1929 Western Canada Airways had the airplane ski manufacturer Elliot Brothers of Sioux Lookout to manufacture Hyde sectional canoes that could be carried inside their Fokker aircraft. 

Peterborough Canoe Co and Chestnut Canoe Co

In the mid 1930’s Chestnut Canoe Co. and Peterborough Canoe Co. introduced their own models of sectional canoes for aircraft transportation as the market for such grew.

Other canoe builders quickly followed.

Linkanoe

At the end of WW2,  Edwin A. Link a world renown aviation pioneer and the inventor of the flight trainer was searching for a way to keep his factories open. In the fall of 1945, he introduced his version of a sectional canoe. 

The components of the”Linkanoe” came in two bags, and the canoe could be assembled in less than ten minutes. Ten sections of wood-reinforced Mikarta, were assembled and locked together to form the hull, which was then waterproofed by fitting a canvas sheath over it, which was attached to a series of hooks, beneath the outwale. Thwarts, seats, and two paddles completed the outfit.

Early advertising brochures touted the canoe’s sturdiness, good handling, and portability. ”Check it like luggage, stow it in the closet, or leave it in the trunk of your car,” the canoeist was urged. The canoe’s capacity was also a selling point; a 1945 advertising photo showed Ed Link in his canoe with a moose he had shot on a hunting trip. About 4000 Linkanoes were produced and sold between 1945 and 1949.

The sectional canoe is an example of a uniquely Canadian industrial development and design. They have served an important part in developing the North.

Collapsible and folding canoes are other examples of innovations and developments with significant stories to be told. Now, that is a story for another time.

Sources:
Ron Pellinen                                                          American Canoeist Feb. 1884        
Kathy Hooke                                                          American Canoeist Feb. 1887                                                                    
Roger MacGregor                                                   American Canoeist Sept. 1886  

George Mersereau                                                 Badminton Magazine April 1897                                     

Linkanoe  catalog 1945                                         Wings over the Bush by A.R. Fenwick,                                                                               

The Nautical Magazine 1863                                 Walter Dean Canoe and Boat Co catalog 1901                           

Forest and Stream July 1885                                 Peterborough Canoe Co and Chestnut Canoe Co catalogs 1935
                                               

                       

     

Perdita II a decked cedar-strip canoe built by Lakefield Canoe Co.

A couple of months ago I wrote about one of my favourite canoes, the Chestnut motor canoe. To continue on this theme, this story is about another favourite; a decked cedar-strip canoe built by the Lakefield Canoe & Mfr. Co. in 1907.  It once belonged to George M. Douglas and is today part of the Canadian Canoe Museum’s collection. Its name is Perdita II and it can be found in the Canadian Canoe Museum’s gallery “The Peterborough Tradition” where it hangs upside down in the ceiling.

Perdita II, a decked cedar-strip canoe built by the Lakefield Canoe & Mfr. Co.

I came across Perdita II for the first time in the fall of 1997 when identifying and documenting canoes for the Canadian Canoe Museum. What caught my eye was the narrow width, only 24" and the round to V-shaped hull bottom. A true reflection of the racing dugouts that once raced on the lakes and rivers of the greater Peterborough region in the mid 1800's. Perdita II takes on greater significance, as regretfully very little material evidence of the racing dugouts of that time remains.

It is a canoe I sponsor through the Canadian Canoe Museum’s cool fundraising program “Adopt-a-canoe”.

For just $15/month you can also adopt one of the canoes in the Museum’s collection. Find out more about the fundraising program and how to adopt your canoe here:  http://support.canoemuseum.ca/index.php?option=com_jcollection&view=category&catid=1:adopt-an-artifact&Itemid=2

This is the story of this canoe; actually, it is the story of three canoes; the old racing dugout Perdita, and two decked cedarstrip canoes; Perdita I and Perdita II.

In 1884 the two young brothers George and Lionel Douglas fished a racing dugout out of the waters of Katchewanoka Lake just north of Lakefield. Their father, Dr. Campbell Mellis Douglas, an avid canoeist, canoe collector and inventor, took an interest in the dugout and brought it to the Lakefield canoe builder Thomas Gordon. The old leaking dugout was restored and fitted with new butternut decks by Thomas Gordon and Charles Grylls. The old racing dugout got a new lease on life and was named Perdita. The Douglas family named their canoes and boats after Shakespeare characters. Perdita was the name of a character out of A Winter’s Tale.

Perdita was enjoyed by the Douglas family and its visitors for many years. Although a refined and well-built craft with uniform hull thickness and long fluid lines, it suffered all the usual dugout problems; crankiness, excessive weight and of course the bane of all dugouts; severe cracking of the hull. In early 1893 the dugout was again brought to the Lakefield canoe builder Thomas Gordon, who converted the old dugout to a mold from which the hull of Perdita I, a decked cedar-strip canoe was produced.

Perdita I a decked cedar-strip canoe built by Thomas Gordon.

In 1894, Dr. Campbell M. Douglas applied for a new commission in the British Army to pay for his children's education. The family farm “Northcote” was sold to much distress of the boys George and Lionel. The family moved to England and with them came a handful of the collection of canoes and boats, among them Perdita I.  The canoe was kept at Easton Lodge, the private residence of Countess of Warwick who was a friend of Dr. Douglas.

Dr. Campbell M. Douglas and his son George paddling
Perdita I at Broughty  Ferry,  Scotland  October 4, 1899.

With his education taken care of, George Douglas revisited Canada and Lakefield several times and finally bought back the family homestead, “Northcote” in the summer of 1907.

During George Douglas time in England, the Lakefield canoe building firms Thomas Gordon and Strickland & Co had amalgamated to become the Lakefield Canoe & Mfg. Co. Inquiring there about the whereabouts of the old racing dugout mold “Perdita” George was successful in finding it. He placed an order in the fall of 1907 for Perdita II to be built on the same old dugout mold by the Lakefield Canoe & Mfr. Co. 

Perdita II paddled on Katchewanoka Lake, Lakefield

After the death of his father Campbell M. Douglas in late 1909, George managed to secure the return of the Perdita I to Lakefield after a lengthy correspondence with the Duchess of Warwick who reportedly felt an attachment to the canoe.  Both canoes were now part of an growing fleet of canoes and boats at "Northcote" to the enjoyment of the many visitors over the next 50 years.

Perdita I is today in a private collection and Perdita II in the Canadian Canoe Museums collection. The racing dugout/mold Perdita was most likely destroyed in the December 23, 1910 fire of the Lakefield Canoe & Mfr. Co

Thank you to Kathy Hooke for the access and use of the Douglas family photos and diary's. 

Chestnut Canoe Co, motor canoe

As a canoe builder and restorer I am often asked: Which is your favourite canoe? Well, it’s not one, I have many favorites; paddling canoes, motor canoes, sailing canoes, some are canoes with interesting stories and some are favourites because of their construction, design and style. Here is one favorite, the Chestnut motor canoe, a rare one. I will occasionally present a few others that I think are worthy of special mentioning.

Chestnut Canoe Co ad.

In the early 1900’s the internal combustion engine changed most aspects of life and commerce, on land and water. The most common small engine of the day was the single-cylinder, two-cycle engine often called “one-lunger” or “make-and-break”. One-lunger referred to the single cylinder and make-and-break referred to the ignition system. This little motor was used as marine engines, stationary engines powering farm equipment, sawmills, and washing machines, and much more. It was the choice motor for fishermen and pleasure boaters alike for the next two decades beginning around 1900. Motorized boats found an eager audience in a growing population with time and money to spend.

E. M. White motor canoe ad.

One of the first of the North American canoe builders to recognize this new market was the E.M. White & Co in Maine. Already in 1902 they had a stock model motor canoe for sale to the public looking for a new and modern way to get out on the water.

In 1905 the Chestnut Canoe Co was a small regional canoe maker, with its first catalogue just out, offering only three models. It is clear that the company a couple of years later was doing a very good business right across Canada with a large line-up of canoe models to choose from. Clearly, the Chestnut Canoe Co wasn’t shy about “borrowing” ideas and quickly had picked up on the idea of a motorized canoe. Their motor canoe, first offered in 1907, was an almost exact copy of the E. M. White & Company’s motor canoe with “invisible sponsons”.

The Chestnut Canoe Co introduced their 20 ft. freight canoe in 1907 and its hull was also used for the inboard motor canoe. Ten motor canoes were produced that first year.

The cross section above shows the peculiar shape of the hull and the built in invisible air chambers which were added onto the full length of a canvassed hull and extending below the waterline. The hull was then again canvassed, filled and painted, making the air-chambers completely sealed. These chambers make the craft so steady that it is practically impossible to upset it and they make the canoe so buoyant that it will support more people than can be crowded into it.

Chestnut foursome.

The Chestnut inboard motor canoes were made in two lengths; 18-ft. and 20-ft. A range of options and equipment were available such as; Harlow awnings, special chairs and seats, spray hoods etc.

The canoes came equipped with the customer’s choice of three versions of an engine made by the St. Lawrence Engine Co in Brockville, Ontario. Their basic single cylinder engine model was produced almost unchanged for sixty years. Each engine was hand built one at the time.

 By 1920 the inboard motor canoe models had disappeared from the Chestnut offerings and had been replaced with the new fad; the square stern canoe equipped with the outboard motor.

A Chestnut motor canoe with the invisible sponsons is quite rare, I know of only a handful, one of them in the collection at the Canadian Canoe Museum. Their canoe, or what is left of it, is unfortunately in poor condition and is missing all hardware, motor, propeller, tank and piping, bow & side steering wheels, rub rails, oak coaming, keel, seats, chairs and its canvas covering. Two feet of the stern have been cut off and replaced by a transom.

If any of you have a Chestnut motor canoe for sale, I am interested.