This was the winter of the Peapod! The association of camp owners on Mountainy Pond each have a peapod, whether Gerrish or Old Town, to row to their camp each summer. They are well-used, so we are happy to give them the attention they deserve. This summer, we sent off five to Mountainy Pond and another unrelated Peapod to Mr. Terry, to enjoy at his family camp.
Gail has been hard at work, milling materials for the mail-order side of the business and keeping us in filler. In addition to her speedy sanding and expert cleaning, she is more than essential around here! Rollin and Elisa just try to keep up with her.
This winter also saw two Gallupe canoes come through the shop. This asymmetrical canoe design was made especially for motoring on the shallow mouths of the rivers in the north of the state. The canoe is the ultimate place-based craft!
Speaking of unusual Maine designs, we also gave a Rangeley square-stern lapstrake boat back to its owner this summer. We replaced the keel, the transom and the inside stem, not to mention reclinching many copper nails and rivets, so it is a much sturdier boat than when it arrived at the shop. Rollin also found a lovely knee for the outside stem, so that the wood grain follows the curve of the front of the boat. After a spiffy new paint job, this boat headed off to get back on the water with Mr. Field.
The stem receives a splice and an inner laminate, both made of ash, to solidify the part of the stem that meets the deck.
We can splice the gunwale, as well, matching wood and grain. But sometimes, we simply have to replace the whole thing.
At the beginning of winter, before the snow flew, a crew from Kroka Expeditions in New Hampshire hauled up two of their 20-foot Voyagers for restoration. The boats needed several new ribs, gunwale repair and several pounds of sand cleaned out from under the canvas! For the use that these boats get, though, on river and lake trips with hundreds of students and campers, they were in remarkable shape. The three folks from Kroka began the job of getting them spiffed up by taking them apart. We enjoyed their visit and their energy.
Rollin practiced his chandelier-making abilities this winter! Elisa dropped off this beautiful Morris reconstruction in Everett, Mass. It now lights and decorates the great room in an apartment building there. LED lights line the underside of the gunwales and highlight the color of the northern white cedar inside.
Mr. Bateman’s square-stern canoe is coming along, with new oak inner gunwales and a new oak keelson. Rollin and Gail bent some new ribs for the canoe as well.
