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.

Wood and Canvas Canoe Restoration - Impending

I am about to launch into another wood and canvas canoe restoration, assuming the owner is willing to spend the money.  A new one of these kinds of canoes is about $4000, so anything less than $2000 for a restoration is probably a good deal.  Perhaps you would pay more if the boat was an heirloom and you have some emotional connection with it.
This boat looks like a good candidate.  The hull is in fairly good shape. It needs some varnish stripping, some new planking, new skin, paint, interior varnish, outwales, gunwale caps, thwarts and seat restoration and seat hardware. And after all that was replaced or fixed, the boat would once again look spiffy. And of course it would have that old-timey wood, paint and brass, handmade look.

The canoe minus its canvas skin.  Planking is white cedar over white cedar ribs.

A view of the top of the canoe, partially decked in mahogany.

Interior view showing ribs and assortment of rotted wood trim. 

Closeup on the rotted trim.  The curved piece at the top left is one of the exterior stems.