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Wood on Water

WOW ! That was pretty cool.

I was 13 when my Father passed away. That Summer, someone, paid for me to join my Boy Scout Troop, to Camp.

It did great things to build my Character. Not as exhausting as what these girls when through. It gives me an understanding of the purpose of these kind of trips !

Thanks for sharing Robin !
 
Thank you Robin for posting this. What a lovely group of strong, confident young women! I would like my 8 year old granddaughter to experience this; she lives not far from Songadeewin camp on Lake Dunmore, VT. That’s the girls camp component of Keewaydin.

Oh yeah… I like the canoes and traditional gear too!
 
Jim and Patrick,
Thanks, glad you liked it. I agree, a great experience for these young ladies, a 40 day trip is quite an accomplishment.
I think it’s great they still use wood canvas canoes and traditional gear.
 
In addition to all things done the Keewaydin way also notice both the traditional Temagami style carry bar and the traditional 3-walled fireplace used on these trips.

Great film, thanks Robin.
 

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Keewaydin offers adult trips also.
 
Good eye Odyssey, the canoes also had wannigan ribs, that’s a thin extra “rib” added on top of the ribs where the wannigan is placed in the canoe by the builder. You can see them in you picture.

I’d like to find an old Chestnut Prospector with them.
 
Speaking of Chestnuts...
 
Great link Robin, a very nice way to wind down for the evening.
Dylan & Emily Schoelzel own Salmon Falls Canoe about 10 miles from us. They have a nice old barn with plenty of room to build in.
 
That was a great video. I really enjoyed seeing all of those wc boats traveling together and lined up at the launches and it was impressive to see those girls carry those 80lb. boats. I did notice the carry bar and am wondering if there is any advantage over a yoke and is there any other advantage to it besides eliminating the thwart digging into your neck.

Good eye to spot those wannigan ribs Robin, I never heard of those before. For as much use as those boats get over their 50 year lifespan it's a good idea. My 38' OT Guide has two long parallel wear marks in the chines that I assume were from a wannigan.

I seem to have read somewhere that Keewadin uses Joe Saligas form to build their boats. Can anyone confirm this.
 
I enjoyed the video as well and particularly the honesty with which the narrator related her struggles (since she left them to find their groove, she was playing catch-up: "I have no groove"). Being fairly new to tripping, I can totally relate to that.

I was also curious about the carry bar / paddle configuration. Seems like a great way to go but, rather than derail this thread, perhaps another is in order.
 
I too liked this video, got it bookmarked so I can rewatch it and send to my old friends that can no longer trip.
I’m pretty sure that low angle Al’s 38 foot canoe is a b*tch to portage, he might need Glenn’s tractor and a trailer to set it on. My Selina 17 footer is getting harder to get onto my shoulders with each passing year.
 
What a nice film.
I think Keewaydin uses Chestnut Cruiser designs. I could be wrong.
I seem to have read somewhere that Keewadin uses Joe Saligas form to build their boats. Can anyone confirm this.
 
I seem to have read somewhere that Keewadin uses Joe Saligas form to build their boats. Can anyone confirm this.
If you read that link Odyssey added it mentions that Schuyler Thomson has done the repairs and new builds for Temagami, Vermont for a while. It wasn't uncommon to see a trailer load (6) of freshly restored green canoes plus two on his Volvo's roof racks waiting to head north to Vermont.
"By the late 1980’s Thompson began to build and supply new canoes for Dunmore and continues to do so today."

Schuyler's shop was just down the road from me when I lived in Norfolk, Ct. I bought my first Chestnut from him and spent more than a few hours working on my canoes in his shop. He always had some Keewaydin canoes in various stages of repair around the shop.

I would guess that a couple of these canoes are Keewaydins in Schuylers shop.

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You can see the K painted on the nose of all Keewaydin canoes canvas that where tacked to the wall of Schuylers shop on the extrem right of this picture.

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The YMCA Camp Widjiwagan outside of Ely Minnesota has Joe Seliga’s canoe building form. That camp and to some extent Sommer’s Boy Scout camp were major purchaser’s of Joe’s canoes. He was a big booster of Widjiwagan. He took me out there one time to show me all of his canoes they had. While there we also had coffee out of the cups that had Joe’s Logo. I got to keep my cup as a memento of my visit and as a member of a exclusive club of Seliga Canoe owners. My dentist in North Pole Alaska was a camper & later a guide at Widjiwagan, we have some pretty good one sided conversations when I see him. He is envious of my canoe.
 
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If you go on the Salmon Falls Canoe website; restoration gallery; https://salmonfallscanoe.com/restoration-gallery you will find two pictures of restored Keewaydin canoes. They may also build them new for Keewaydin, I'm not sure. Emily Schoezel, featured in the Wood on Water film is the owner of Salmon Falls Canoe (with husband Dylan), and director of Keewaydin Temagami.
 
The Norumbega Chapter of the WCHA restored a Keewaydin canoe a number of years ago. I am trying to recall the details, but I think it was a 17 ft Cruiser. I am sure the fleet contains a number of different canoes and Dylan may have constructed a form based on the most popular tripper.

Come to think of it, I own a Chestnut Cruiser that was owned by an alum of Keewaydin and he purchased the canoe new because that is the canoe model they used at Keewaydin.
 
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Thanks Mr. Birch, I got it confused with camp Widgiwagan. I guess the name didn't stick with me. I also didn't realize Keewaydin is from Vermont, a little far away to be using Seligas. It seems like both camps have a lot of similarities. I remember from the article that Widjiwagan emphasized respecting the canoes and handling them with great care.

Either way it's great to see these camps preserving traditional canoe tripping and these boats.
 
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