Officially started on the canoe.

This blog is about restoring a 1917 Kennebec canoe. This canoe came into our family in 1948, when my father bought it in Madison, Wisconsin. It was shipped up to the family farm outside of Shawano and it stayed in the barn until the '70s. Many moves later, going through Kansas, New Mexico, back to Kansas, and finally to Whidbey Island, it is beached in my garage and finally getting restored.

I started step one in restoring the canoe, stripping the finish so I can see what shape the wood is in.  The stripper needs to be used in a well-ventilated space, between 65 and 85F.  We had a 65F day yesterday (in December!) so I stripped about 4 ribs worth (out of 44) of the interior. This took about 3 hours.  There is a thick layer of gunk on the inside that takes a lot of work to remove.  I need to be more patient and let the stripper sit longer.

It won't be this warm again for months, so I took one of the seats out to rebuild during the winter. I stripped one of the 3 pieces of the frame (one is missing), and it looks like nice maple. I'll make a replacement for the missing piece from the maple plank off the farm in Shawano.