"The sappy part":
Scribner's Magazine, October 1908
To rot on a lonely shore
While the leaves and mould like a shroud enfold,
For the last of my trails are o'er;
But I float in dreams on Northland streams
That never again I'll see,
As I lie on the marge of the old portage
With grief for company.
When the sunset gilds the timbered hills
That guard Timagami,
And the moonbeams play on far James Bay
By the brink of the frozen sea,
In phantom guise my Spirit flies
As the dream blades dip and swing
Where the waters flow from the Long Ago
In the spell of the beck'ning spring.
Do the cow-moose call on the Montreal
When the first frost bites the air,
And the mists unfold from the red and gold
That the autumn ridges wear?
When the white falls roar as they did of yore
On the Lady Evelyn,
Do the square-tail leap from the black pools deep
Where the pictured rocks begin?
Oh! the fur-fleets sing on Timiskaming
As the ashen paddles bend,
And the crews carouse at Rupert House
At the sullen winter's end;
But my days are done where the lean wolves run,
And I ripple no more the path
Where the gray geese race cross the red moon's face
From the white wind's Arctic wrath.
Tho' the death fraught way from the Saguenay
To the storied Nipigon
Once knew me well, now a crumbling shell
I watch the years roll on,
While in memory's haze I live the days
That forever are gone from me,
As I rot on the marge of the old portage
With grief for company.
-Kruez-
Your thoughts are requested...
A 1930s Old Town was my first project, back in the early 60s. stripped off the old canvas, patched the cracked cedar, recovered it with some unbleached muslin and sealed her up with some white enamel. Worked just fine, and sold her to some old guy who thought he had a pretty good deal going for enough to cover my second semester of my sophomore year. Advice: use her to learn how to steam and replicate all the cool parts. What do you care if the wood is brittle? Did you really think you were going to go romping down the rapids in that old thing when you bought her? And anyway, what's wrong with a Laker, anyway? Biggest fish, bigger waves, more freedom, and all that other stuff... When you finally have the skills to be confident, give her to some youngster who needs a new "skill-set" to give him/her confidence in the world ahead. No telling how many generations you can get grown up inside the gunnels of that old boat... JR Sloan
ReplyDeleteGood Points, When I saw her I knew I had to save her. She was sitting upside down in a co-workers back yard. Mostly I am looking for inspiration to finish her up. I do need to steam bend some ash and replace about three frames. She aslo needs a bit more cedar to fix a couple of holes... Muslin? I thought Muslin was pretty thin? Is it available in a thicker more like canvas version? I was going to order the materials I needed from a guy who builds traditional canoes up in Michigan. Would love to just give one of them guys the boat to fix for me but in her condition I could buy a new one for what I'd have to pay to have this one fixed. I have never restored a canoe before but I am confident that I can produce a quality result. Won't settle for anything less... Kind of anal that way... -Kruez-
ReplyDeleteKruez, I've been planning a once in a life time trip to the boundry waters. an old girl like that belongs in that type of setting. Don't cut it up or burn it. If you get tired of working on her let me know I'll take her off your hands and leave my plastic Old Towne behind. A treasure like that needs to be restored and used not just disposed of. there are to far few of them around these days. JW
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