A few of you may have followed this resto on another board....thought I'd throw it up here in hopes of getting some oversight and feedback.

I have always lusted for an old wood and canvas canoe….and more recently a Grand Laker Canoe from Maine. Short of driving 1000-plus miles to by a used one…..I began to look local. I quickly noticed there are no Grand Lakers in the SE United States….duh.

Here’s an original Grand Laker (or “Laka” as they say in ME.)

Views: 607

Attachments:

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

So after several months of looking….I found a smaller version of the “laka” in a barn up in North Georgia. Its a 1947-ish “Snipe”, manufactured by the Shell Lake Boat Company that was once located in Shell Lake, Wisconsin. The company was purchased by Lund Boats in the early 70s. The wood and canvas Shell Boats were no longer manufactured as of the mid-60s with the advent of fiberglass. Here’s a promotional photo of the Snipe in its heyday:






Attachments:
Here she is in present condition….a little worse for wear but still in decent shape for a 56 year old boat.

She’s a little rough around the edges…but nothing a good scarf joint and some epoxy can’t overcome. Inwales are in decent shape but the outwales are toast. There is some rot in the transom as well. I’ve been studying the techniques used to re-hab these old boats and it does not look too terribly difficult.
Attachments:

The hardest part is getting the old one out with out doing any more damage then needed. Then you can lay the old trans out on your work bench and duplicate it.

RSS

© 2024   Created by Randy Dersham.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service