Greetings from Chesapeake, Va

[Yohawk]

Hi!
I came across this site while looking for info on canvas/wood canoes. My Dad had an old Old Town wood/canvas canoe when I was a little kid, way back in the late 50's. We spent a lot of time on Ponkapoag Pond in Massachusetts. I can still recall the beauty of the varnished wooden ribs against the green canvas. I also remember it kind of creaked when you paddled it! Great memories......
I spent a lot of my summers paddling in the Adirondacks as a kid with different canoes over the years, but none had the elegance of that one in my childhood dreams. Even had a short stint with an aluminum boat as well.....didn't even make it the whole summer! I recently "upgraded" from a poly canoe to a Mad River Kevlar Explorer. The weight was getting to be a bit much to load on the cap of my pickup truck, so the Kevlar made sense. It's a great boat, easy to handle and load on the racks, however, something is missing. I have just finished oiling the gunwales for the season and while doing so, I started thinking about that old, green image in my head of what a canoe should look like! At 63, there is more time behind me than in front, so I've decided to try and recapture a little of this old memories while I still can. I look forward to learning what I can from the forums and hopefully it will help me find a Classic of mine own! Thanks and I look forward to getting to know you folks!
Jack

 

[Larry Meyer]

Welcome. I'm from Milton, Ma and have paddled on Ponk a good bit myself.

 

[dtdcanoes]

Hi, Jack and welcome aboard. I have a lot of years on you and just ready to launch another treasure...........so get to-ah, and don't look back. We help when we can..
Ponkapoag Pond.......takes me back 1/2 century when we picked up our first bird dog, a Brittany from Ponkapoag Kennels...later named Ponkapoag Tuck....amazing woodcocker ! Headstrong , oye !!
Dave

 

[Larry Meyer]

That's weird. I had never heard of Ponkapoag Kennels. So I googled and there's some evidence it was in Warner, NH, which I do know as my wife's family owned half of Mt. Kearsage many years ago.

 

[Yohawk]

Thanks for the encouragement! Its one of those things thats been in the back of my mind for a long time. I appreciate my brides attitude and admonitions that I'm not getting any younger. Don't know that I've ever seen any canvas boats for sale here in Tidewater, so I'm thinking a road trip might be in my future!!! My main source of looking has been Craig's List, so this should help expand my horizons. Lots of kayaks down this way and while I have a few in the stable, I want to complete the circle, so to speak. My Dad used to catch hell from my Mom for keeping me on the water so long as a kid...I'd get sunburned to beat the band and couldn't get enough. Sure do miss fishing the Lily pads!!!

 

[shelldrake]

Welcome Jack. Another transplant from MASS here. Don't despair; I found my first restoration project in Accomack, VA.

Matt

 

[Michael Grace]

Hi Jack,

You certainly found the right website to begin indulging that old passion! There are lots of great resources here, not the least of which are the many great people who are WCHA members or otherwise frequent this site. Check out the WCHA Classifieds section (tab at the top of this page) for many great old canoes looking for good homes. The Forums contain tons of information and the WCHA store (another tab above) has a wealth of great material available.

I got my start in old wooden canoes while living in Charlottesville, VA, and I can tell you that there are a good number of them in your fair State. But the world is also small these days, so you might find your dream canoe elsewhere. No matter what, you can certainly count on the good folks here for encouragement and support.

Best - Michael

 

[Todd F]

Jack, you still in the area? More than a few boats in the yard. If interested would love to swing a couple buy for you to look at and collaborate on restoring.