Wood and Canvas Canoe Restoration - B.N. Morris History

I did some research on the internet and found out what kind of canoe I was restoring, a B.N. Morris canoe made in Veazie, Maine.  And there was a facebook page that had a bunch of stuff about these canoes.  I suspect there is a facebook page for just about everything.
Anyway, here's some of the stuff I found.

Friendly rivalry makes good sport.  Ha Ha, could have used that slogan for the Cold War.  Apparently, this image is off the 1919 Morris canoe catalog.  Note, then as now, women get stuck in the bow of the boat.  Unless of course two women take a canoe out.  My advice, get a solo canoe and always be in the stern, captain of your own destiny.

WHCA, the wooden canoe heritage association sells decals for the Morris.  No, Paddleing is not a mistake, that's how Morris spelled it back then.

 

 

 

And another logo in lovely art nouveau style.

Darn, I screwed up the blogger software and it won't add a caption - anyway, the photo above shows the customary "pigeon blood" stain used by Morris on the interior of his canoes.

And finally, colors for the exterior of the canoe.  I lean toward dark green myself, even though in the photo it looks more like black.  Come to think of it, black never caught on as a canoe color.

Wood and Canvas Canoe Restoration - started

Finally got the shop organized enough to get the canoe moved in.  Some internet sleuthing reveals that it is a B.N. Morris canoe.  Helps to know what it is since that narrows down searches for particulars.
Did some measuring too.  Beam is 32 inches at the gunwales.  Length is 17 feet. 

There it is, the B.N. Morris without a skin, sitting on top of the Vibe in front of the shop.

The white cedar sheathing has some gaps that need to be filled.

There it is in the shop ready for the next step.

The ends of the canoe are decked over.  Doesn't look like much, but takes up the first 32 inches of either end of the boat.

And here, inside the hull, assorted parts that were stripped off the hull.  Among other things, here are outwales, gunwale caps, stem pieces and plastic bags filled with bronze nails.  Some sanding and varnish will make this stuff look like new.

Eastern Arctic Kayak Construction - Ribs

Back to working on the EA kayak after more than a month's hiatus.
Today I tried notching and bending a stick for ribs, but there was so little wood connecting the segments that I gave up and decided to just do the ribs in three parts.  At the same time, I started refinishing an old wood and canvas canoe so I didn't finish the ribs but got far enough to work out how it will be.
Pictures follow.

View from the bow.  Set sides of the ribs are sitting in their mortises, ready to be trimmed to proper length.  On the ground, just to the left of the EA is a stitch and glue surf ski that somebody dropped there.  Don't know who.  I will have to call some of my friends to find out who it was.  Soon as I get caught up on building, I will go and try out that surf ski.

The first completed rib.  I just nailed the center section to the sides with bronze ring nails.  Seems to work.  The joint will be backed up with some stringers. Note the battens clamped to the sides of the rib sides to mark them for where they will be trimmed.

Side view of the stringer the top of which marks the elevation at which the rib sides will be trimmed.  Ribs are roughly 5/8 by 1/2 inches.

The view from inside in the direction of the stern.  Those ropes look so nautical.

Another shot down the center of the kayak. The first completed rib is visible.  Tomorrow, I trim the rest and cut and nail the remaining center sections in place.

And the ribs near the bow.  With any luck, this frame will be completed soon.

Methane Vents

As  permafrost melts, it releases methane. The methane exits the permafrost via vents which until recently were  small like the one pictured  but in the past year have increased in size to hundreds of feet across.  Careful when you light a cigarette.

Forget the effect of CO2 in the atmosphere on the temperature of the earth.  Methane is the gas du jour because it is 26 times as good an insulator as CO2.  CO2 is merely a gateway gas that sets us up for methane, the really bad stuff.  If you think where you live isn't warm enough, methane is the answer.  A little video here. I am providing a link since the blogger can't be embed flash videos. So flare away.
Actually, we did need to increase the CO2  in the atmosphere to the point where the Arctic was warm enough to release methane on its own accord.  We seem to be there now. Each year promises more melting in the Arctic and further release of methane. So CO2 did its part and can now step into the background.
What does this have to do with skinboats?  Nothing really other than that their use has very little effect on either CO2 or methane concentrations in the atmosphere.  Skinboats, in the current lingo are practically carbon neutral or can be made to be carbon neutral with some effort.  On the other hand, using skinboats does nothing to reduce the release of methane into the atmosphere and though it isn't hurting things, it isn't helping either.