canoe maker

� 2 American Chestnut
� 2 Sassafras, including a northwoods style with notched handle
� 2 black cherry

Six years ago, I was working on the woodburning decoration of the c1849 replica when my pregnant wife's water broke and we rushed to the hospital.



For that reason, that paddle has always been linked to my firstborn so I decided to commemorate the occasion by decorating the other side with a height marker, images of his little hands, feet and some important milestones (see that full post here). It has become a bit of family tradition to take the paddle off the wall on his birthday and burn on his new height before eating the cake.The cherry wood has darkened in the past 6 years and now the "little guy" has grown up to the base of the grip on this 58" paddle.



With the recent birth of our 2nd child, I decided to refurbish another cherry paddle with a similar height marker. This Cherry Guide paddle is actually the favourite all-around paddle design I've carved and this paddle has accompanied me on many excursions. You can see it in action in a few of my Youtube videos, like the daytrip to the Limberlost Wilderness Preserve.



While not exactly the same design as the original heirloom paddle, they were both carved from the same stock of cherry and have the identical blade shape. Basically the two paddles are close enough to be "siblings" so thought this would be appropriate for little brother. This paddle has been heavily oiled over the years, but fortunately that process still permits some pyrography to be added later - another reason why I prefer oiling to varnish. The woodburning tips need to be at higher heat than unfinished wood and this causes them to collect a burnt residue needing frequent pausing to clean, so the process is slow but satisfactory. Just as last time, a metal straight edge was clamped to the paddle to burn the centre line and the inch markers.


Previously, I used an old scanner to get a digital image of my older son's hands & feet. The old  scanner is broken so to get a realistic-sized copy of our newborn's hands and  feet, I pressed his hands against a pane of glass, took a photo, and used Photoshop to render the image into "photocopy" mode as the starting point for the burn.

Fellow paddle maker, Jonas from Sweden (see post here), has been busy documenting his creations over on his new blog, Paddle Reflections. He has been working on a very interesting experimental design which features an elongated Northwoods style grip with asymmetrical notches for the grip thumb.






Jonas' creative design looks to have alternating Battenkill grips to allow for a more comfortable angle when using this lateral grip style. Here's a pic from his blog post demonstrating the grip position. It looks quite comfortable to my eyes.




His blade design is interesting as well. ..




Some Cree paddles have an indented paddle blade reminiscent of this style. Also, in the Historic Paddle Art archive page, is an undated image featuring a French trade canoe and a paddle with similar curves (original post here). I wish there were more details about this print in order to find any tribal affiliation, if any.



Keep up the great work on your paddles and blog site, Jonas!

The Facebook page of Northwoods Ways features a gorgeously composed cover photo of some paddles. Mesmerizing grain and wonderful grip shapes...

The second paddle featured on the Cherry Gallery's October Current Selections page is this classic styled Guide Paddle from Maine. It's been painted with contrasting red paint for the blade and black paint for the shaft / grip. Another big one at nearly 6' long...






Still not as big as this rediculously huge 96" Guide Paddle posted on earlier, but a handsome paddle nontheless.

It's been a while since the Cherry Gallery has posted anything paddle related. Their October current selections page features two interesting antique paddles. The first is a cute model paddle with a distinctive stepped style grip commonly seen in some Penobscot paddles which formed the basis for the classic "Northwoods Style" grip favored by Alexandra Conover-Bennett...

Here's a photographic print featured on FineArtAmerica by Bill Curtsinger entitled The Bow And Oar Of A Handmade Wooden Canoe. 

Even though I missed the 2014 WCHA assembly again this year, some of the attendees have shared wonderful photos of all the canoeing fun. Jim Wilson recently uploaded a Flickr album of much of the action, including one of the long-standing traditions at the Assembly...the Paddle-by. Participants cruise by one-by-one showcasing their wooden boats.

I recognized a few paddling friends, most notably Pam Wedd of Bearwood Canoes. Pam was the wonderful instructor for my own build course way back in '08! She brought along a new 14' Gerrish Replica in a pretty turquoise colour.



Equally stunning was Craig Johnson paddling his 15' canoe (also built at Pam's shop in Parry Sound, ON). Craig makes gorgeous paddles as well (see previous posts here and here). This particular one is sassafras Northwoods style with an indented grip, distinct blade spine and a unique copper tip.



Craig had posted more of his beautiful sassafras creations on the WCHA forums a while back.




He's also come up with a pretty innovative way of mounting copper tips onto the blade end. A photo sequence of the basic process is found is this thread here.

In the same edition, on page 60 is a pic of Guide Tom Grinier. You can just make out his hand resting on the flat grip in the classic Northwoods stroke position.

Found another photo representative of a traditional native paddling method with the grip hand positioned differently below the grip in the "Northwoods" style. This one is of Ojibwe Chief Busticogan in a bark canoe on the Big Fork River (MN) but it resembles some of the photos here as well as in some additional photos from an earlier post on Indigenous paddling techniques.

Another Ebay listing of an antique paddle, this one a 70" paddle from Maine with a small Northwoods style grip and some blade damage...



Seller Info:

Beautiful, 70-3/4" antique canoe paddle that was found in Maine.The original owners initials are carved into the paddle, RLK.

From a now expired Ebay listing showcasing a hand-carved Tiger Maple paddle...

"This is a one of a kind Hand Carved Algonquin style CANOE PADDLE. I made this using traditional hand tools from a single piece of beautiful figured tiger maple (rock maple). This paddle has stunning sculptural form and brilliant almost iridescent wood grain pattern. This paddle is based on examples of traditional Abanaki, Passamoquoddy, Maliceet paddles (the same native Americans who built the spectacular and technologically advanced birch bark canoes). I have always admired the amazing and beautiful sculptural form in the original native American paddles made from various American hardwoods including Birdseye and tiger maple, Cherry, ash. Many were decorated with incised designs, I prefer the pure shape and highly figured wood.... 

This paddle offered in this auction is 67-3/4"" long, blade is 7-1/4" wide (as thin as 3/16"in places) shaft is 1- 1/4" thick at widest point and weighs approx 2- 1/2 pounds. Signed "SK" (Steve Kovach) with my personal brand on end of grip."

Included in the array of photos was an additional set of some of the other paddles made by the same seller. Nice collection with some lovely grain patterns...

Came across a nice set of vids from Registered Master Maine Guide, Tim Smith of Jack Mountain Bushcraft. This particular video set documents a May trip on a section of the Allagash River. In Part 11 of 15, Tim explains his preferred paddle shape with a great logical explanation of the Northwoods style elongated grip. The paddle talk starts around the 1:47 mark if you want to skip the beginning section...
An earlier vid, part 3 of 15 actually showcases the paddling stroke on the water. Tim narrates some of the points interestingly referred to as the "P.O.P." - Position of Power where the hands are spread out only as wide as if doing a pushup...great analogy!

Many of the other vids in the series feature backwoods cooking, camping skills, and poling. Great stuff!

LiveAuctioneers.com has a new listing of a set of beautiful looking vintage paddles. They feature slender Northwoods style grips (mislabeled as "Adirondack Style" in my opinion) and are carved in Tiger Maple. Both are 60" long but are unsigned and undated...

Vintage photo from an expired Ebay listing showcasing some Chippewa (Ojibwe) paddlers in a bark canoe...



What caught my attention is the griping method on the paddles. The female in the bow looks to be holding a pole grip style paddle with an underhand grip while the stern paddler is holding the grip in the "Northwoods" style or what Pinkerton described as the "Indian's Position"