The Canoe Resurrection Project

Many many years ago, well before Olivia was born, Catherine and I bought a canoe, from Sporting Intentions, two locations ago.

We had aspirations, and while we did put in a few times—in Bonshaw, in Morell, and once, when Olivia was young, in Johnsons River—the canoe has mostly sat in our carriage house for the last 20 years.

This year I decided to see if I could resurrect it, and Olivia helped me pull it out to take a look.

While the hull is in good shape, its Achilles heel has been rivets that have corroded over time, causing the seat in the bow to become detached, and rendering the bow deck unstable. Fortunately, Sporting Intentions was able to put me in touch with someone who can re-rivet these back into place; he’s coming over next week.

Which left me with the question of how to transport the canoe to water. It seemed absurd, given that I live 450 m from Charlottetown Harbour, to think about driving the canoe anywhere. So, instead, I ordered a canoe-carrying trailer for my bicycle from Guelph-based Wicycle, a company I’ve long-admired. It arrived yesterday, and I assembled it today (an easy snap-together process). Getting it under the canoe was a one-person job, and the bicycle-side hitch, while a little fiddly, was also easily installed.

If the repair goes as expected next week, I should be on the road and down to the water the first calm day that follows. You’ll recognize me as the guy towing a canoe.