Benson Gray's latest activity

Searching for a long time, I finally found this on eBay. Created by Augustus Phillips of Northeast Harbor, Maine, who made a business...

Merry Christmas from Maine! Jim

There has been a fair amount of academic debate about pointed paddles being used as weapons. The general conclusion is that the reduced...

The design and construction have clearly evolved over the years. There also appear to have been some typographical errors in these early...

Very interesting that the boats were 19' OT Guides. I wonder if it was just a longer 18 footer or a different hull entirely.

It is the same basic shape but slightly longer. The 1905 Old Town catalog page describing is attached below. Benson

That's an interesting thread with the usual disagreements about what happened to whom, and who was to blame, that we can never be sure of.

Mina Hubbard, most of us know, made a major expedition into Labrador after her young husband died there. But I hadn't heard a...

The thread at the link below has more about her including a copy of the original receipt for her canoes and paddles from the Old Town...

Thanks Benson for looping me into this thread. Though I'm not really familiar with Alaskan paddle designs, there is a long tradition of...

I have sent Murat a link to this discussion so he may jump in (if he makes it through the verification process). Benson

Murat is the author of the paddle making blog at the previous link. He has made replicas of many early paddles and used them with other...

These are commonly known as pole grip paddles which are frequently used while standing up. The link below has lots of interesting...

It is. We moved to Maine to be near our daughter during Covid, it was a tough time to move as there were few homes for sale. My wife...

The full specifications for a variety of Malecite and other birch bark canoes can be found in The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North...