For me it's Drums & Canoes....
1965 Ludwig Downbeat w/Matching Downbeat Snare.
1971 Ludwig Hollywood / Big Beat (Blue Oyster Pearl)
1976 Ludwig Stainless Steel.
This is actually a Quadra-Plus Outfit but I prefer this, smaller, configuration.
1979 Ludwig Big Beat w/Extra 14" Tom
We currently have 10 Canoes, down from 14, so I won't post pictures of all of them here.
The first photo is where my interest in canvas-covered wooden canoes started.
Left, 1941 16' Old Town OTCA, right, 1946 18' Old Town Guide Special
with the rest of the fleet, at that time, in the background.
The following have been added since that time........
16' Fraser Ogilvy Special (Fraser Canoe #183) on Michigan's Manistee River
Interior of 18' Fraser Ogilvy Special (Fraser Canoe #200)
Ogilvy Specials were designed by the Chestnut Canoe Co. of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, in the
early 30's specifically for guiding "Sports" seeking Atlantic Salmon in the, at times, shallow rocky rivers.
Because of this they were heavily built with 3" wide ribs spaced only a half-inch apart.
Most canoes of the time used something like 2" wide ribs spaced 2" apart.
17' Fraser Canoe Guide's Special (Fraser Canoe #199)
Another heavily built canoe with standard 2" wide ribs spaced half-an-inch apart.
This hull was, for it's time, one of the fastest, most manuerable designs around.
It was around prior to the Ogilvy Special's.
When downriver racing became more popular in later years many took the lines off the Chestnut Cruiser
(Guide's Special w/Standard rib spacing) and built fiberglass hulls to compete, doing quite well.
Below you will see the sleek lines of the Guide's Special, which proved so hard to beat.
For most this canoe is considered very "tippy."
This design becomes more stable the more it's leaned so it actually tries to right itself,
which in canoe terms means that it has low "initial stability" but high "secondary stability."
My type of canoe because it can be aggressively leaned into turns or away from the
on-coming current, a plus in whitewater or narrow rivers.
Here I am with Donald Fraser in Fredericton, New Brunswick with our 18' Ogilvy Special,
which was Donny's 200th Canoe
Here I am below christening Fraser Canoe #200, which was his Wife's (Isabel) idea.
Donny thought it a total waste of good scotch so he actually held a glass
under the bow to catch it as it drained off the canoe.
Watching him is why I have such a big
going on.
To celebrate Donald's milestone I commisioned Canadian Cartoonist, Paul Mason, to do this cartoon,
which was pretty close to poster-size. We then had it framed & matted before presenting it
to Donald & his wife at the 200th Canoe celebration party, which was respite with Bagpipers.
The "photo" on the calender is of the Chestnut Canoe Co. where Donald worked (Sales Manager)
from 1951 until they closed up shop in 1978.
All of Donald's Canoes are built on original Chestnut Forms that he purchased when they went out of business.
Prior to that time he had only seen canoes being built in the factory and had never pounded a canoe tack before then.
Fraser Canoe's #199 & #200 getting ready to head the 1,100 miles
to their home in Michigan and join Fraser Canoe #183.
One more shot of Fraser Canoe #183 (16' Oglivy Special), this time on Michigan's AuSable River.
15' Chestnut Prospector
15' Prospector shown on Michigan's Sturgeon River
16' Chestnut Moonlight shown on the upper reaches of Michigan's Muskegeon River
1972 16' Walter Walker all-wood (no fiberglass) Canoe
Interior of Walker Canoe
I had dinner at Walter's house a week before finding this canoe and told him one day I would find one, mark my words.
I had to pick it up on Rice Lake in Ontario so afterwards I drove up to Walter's in Lakefield, ON, to surprise him.
Below you will see him checking it out, where he made the comment "You weren't kidding were you?"
Walter passed away a couple of years ago at the ripe old age of 102.
He started his building career in Lakefield back in 1931.
As a tribute to an old friend, here's Walter in his basement workshop with the last canoe he ever built,
a 13-footer for his niece. We spent many an hour down in his basement talkin' canoes &
a finer man you would never want to meet who was the best at what he did. Walter was the first
Canoe Builder Emeritus inducted into the Candian Canoe Museum's Canoe Builder Hall of Fame.
God bless you Walter.
Thanks all Folks, hope to see you on the River!
