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November 24, 1945 – January 23, 2026 After a life spent traveling Canada’s wilderness in wood-canvas canoes, Hugh Stewart died at the age of 80. Hugh was a loving, loyal, and adventurous partner to Cathie Campbell for 35 years. He was a very proud father to Brandy and Alec, a wonderful...

Another Headwaters Canoe video, “The Shape of Cedar”, this time a heavenly damaged wood canvas canoe gets repaired on the trail and the folks at Headwaters share some thoughts on the canoes they build. “I’m not interested in convincing anyone our canoes are the best, in my heart I’m pretty...

We have a special place in our hearts for camp canoes. It would be easy for a camp to let the tradition of using wood canvas canoes on the trail fade away in favour of canoes made of modern materials that require less care and maintenance, but ultimately those alternatives also provide less...

A proud Chestnut Prosecutor owner showing off his freshly restored canoe.

Headwaters Canoe, We have a neat comparison of three different canoes of the same model in the shop this week - probably the most famous model: the 16' Prospector. On the left side of the first photo is a 16' Prospector built by Chestnut. We don't know which form this was built on at Chestnut...

At what point is our current administration going to admit his policy of open membership has serious faults. The site is being hacked on a regular basis, maybe a little less freestyle and a little more finding out what guys like “guidestartup80” know about canoes. I embarrassed and disappointed...

A unique owner operated solo woodshop, he can build you a canoe, beautiful hand crafted paddles and more, mostly by hand with minimal power tools. https://www.lastarrowwoodshop.com/ I’m not sure if this link will work but I really liked this paddle with the deer horn attached as a rock guard...

I need to make a replacement part for a canoe seat. Cutting it down to size is no problem but I’m wondering if anyone knows a simple procedure to line up the holes for the dowels. I don’t have a drill press, just hand tools. Thanks

I bought this chair years ago,it has an aluminum frame which makes it very lightweight yet tough enough to hold up to hard use, out there on the trail or in the shop. The nylon seat began to rip and I thought it’s days where over but thanks to some cowhide and a Speedy Stitcher, I was able to...

I’m restoring a Spirt II for my son, I would greatly appreciate the specs on seat/thwart placement and also seat height. Thanks in advance.

Besides painting, varnishing and new rails on some of my canoes, I have been busy with a couple of other shop projects. My wannigan which I always have along on wall tent trips is just too big, (24” x 14&1/2” x 12” high), I can’t handle the weight anymore. It makes a great little table inside or...

When I finished restoring this canoe a few years ago I only gave it two coats of paint, it’s a tripping canoe, the second coat looked ok back then. I just sanded it down with 150 grit on a 1/4 sander and applied the 3rd coat. I added a little gray paint to help freshen up the old paint in the...

When you look in the dictionary for the word relaxing, there should be a link to a James Carey video.

I have been cleaning up my canoes recently, varnish, new paint and new spruce gunnels. I even was able to fix a slice in the canvas to my square stern. The weather here in Maine has been great for painting and varnish and I have a couple of trips planned, so It’s a busy time. I even made a new...

While I like to support the local economy, it’s nice to be able to freeze some meat and this chart helps.

I used to use plain cooking oil but was told it will turn rancid, although I never noticed that. What do you use.

I picked this up last year from fellow Member Paddlin Hal, it needs some love. Thanks to some Gflex, TotalBoat Total Fair and that flat sander a 1/4 sander and 100 grit I think there's some life left in the old gal.

The canoe, loaded to the brim with bags and gear, glides gently across the dark water, almost silently, as if unwilling to disturb the ancient silence enveloping the lake. The canoe glides confidently, like a natural extension of the body and breath. Though laden, its line remains firm. The...

Here are some sights and sounds of the last few months of canoe building. It’s been a busy year, and we are deep in crunch time now. The push is on. Each new canoe’s check list includes: Bending Ribs Sheeting Closing in Rasp, sand and oil Varnish Seats and thwarts Canvas Filling and paint...

Getting my wood canvas canoes up on my trucks roof racks is still doable but getting harder each spring so I found this on Face Book Marketplace Monday. It needs some work but it was pretty much what I was looking for. Lights inop, fender bracket weld broken, 1” &7/8” tongue (2” ball is my go...