canoe maker

Here's a bit of some vintage summer camp art. A 63" ash paddle dated from a 1930's boyscout camp painted in graphic totem style, found near Lake George, New York...

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!

A pair of autumnal festive paddles painted in orange from the current items page of the CherryGallery.com

Came across the google albums Remy Reyjal, a paddle artisan from Moncton, New Brunswick who runs Fiddlehead Canoes. Some interesting shots of his paddle creations from his workshop...


Many of the designs feature patterns mentioned in Graham Warren's paddle making book, including the curved tip "Columbia River" on the far left, the cut out "Salish Hunter" (3rd from right) and an "Early Micmac" design with its spear tip blade (far right). My own version of this Micmac design was made way back in '08 from a suitable short stock piece of cherry

The paddle with the "Voyageur" blade (4th from right) also features the Battenkill grip which I had attempted earlier on a still incomplete whitewater paddle.

Here are some more shots of Remy's completed paddles posed with his gorgeous cedar canvas canoe...



Another shot of the Salish Hunter paddle with its cut out blade design.  Warren's book mentions its design as a silent night paddle allowing the used to paddle close to the hull without knocking and making sounds. The blade's scimitar like shape also looks like a pretty intimidating weapon.

An Ebay seller has a pair of copper paddle tip protectors which are apparently from the 1950's.  Back in 2010, I wrote a brief post on these old-school paddle accessories for anyone who is interested...


 

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...

More shots of the pole grip style paddles in these historic canoe shots...