At the close of the 19th century, and for several decades into the 20th, canoes and guideboats represented some of the finest examples of American craftsmanship in wood. These "ladies of the lakes" are to this day unsurpassed in both quality of construction and openwater handling. Vintage Canoeworks is proud to bring you a wide array of watercraft meticulously restored with great respect given to original materials and historical accuracy. These master pieces are completely functional, insuring many years of paddling pleasure.
Our website features photos and details of all our meticulously restored canoes and guideboats. You'll also find information regarding upcoming projects, and details on our restoration process. For more information you can contact us by clicking here.
Winter Update 2011 - 2012
* We are honored to add to the fleet a c.1900 J.H. Rushton Indian Girl. This is truly an historically important canoe that is as near original as possible given its age. It is an ‘A’ grade craft with cherry decks, thwart and gunwales along with all perfect and intact ribs and planking. Both brass stembands (one of which requires repair) are imprinted with the Rushton name as are the stems. All of the hardware, including the floor rack and its stays, is original. While it is worth noting that the canvas needs to be replaced, it is should also be mentioned that the covering is still with the same primer and two coats of Rushtons’ signature ‘moss green’ from the day it left his shop. Given what lies before us in the production queue, restoration may not begin on this beauty for 10-12 months. We’ll keep you posted.
* Last month we received a very nice note from a customer concerning a recent project we completed. This Rushton Saranac Laker presented us with a few technical challenges but in the end was a joy to restore. Please check out the note here.
* The c.1896 Henry K. Martin guide-boat is sold. Given our current backlog of projects we expect it to be complete in approximately one year. We’ll certainly post photos (and possibly some as we progress) of the result. It is an incredible boat and one of significant historical import.
* The 1915 Old Town closed gunwale is also sold. Less than a week after winning a very prestigious award (see column to the right) it is on its way to California.
* The Finger Lakes A.C.B.S. show this year was fantastic! Not just because we received some great recognition, but the weather was great and most importantly it had the largest representation of small craft in several years. More on this to the right as well.
* We recently completed work on a c.1890 J.H. Rushton Saranac Laker. We’ve included a couple of shop photos in the Rogues Gallery. It’s home port is now Gravenhurst, Ontario.
For a usually brief (although in some cases, extensive) description of all of the canoes and boats we’ve restored and sold that were listed on the site please click here.
To view photos of several (but by no means all) of the units that never made it to the site, please click here.
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2011 Show Results
* On July 30th the William McCaffery guide-boat was awarded Best Restored Small Craft at the 33rd annual Finger Lakes A.C.B.S. Boat Show in Skaneateles, New York. Scoring 96 points (while enduring a point deduction caused by Todd leaving the yoke back at the shop in Buffalo) it bested a field of 19 canoe, guide-boat and sailing craft competitors. We are so grateful that this little ‘Raider’ was recognized not just for its condition but also its rarity.
* At the same ceremony we were truly taken by surprise when the 1915 Old Town HW received the award for Best Historic Craft. At 96.5 points, it gained this honor from among all of the competitors at this show. This canoe was certainly a crowd favorite but we never thought it would take this award. Again, the judges are to be commended for looking past all that ‘big mahogany’ on the docks (not that they weren’t magnificent, or anything).
Awards
• All of our awards we've received over the years are now listed on one page and you'll find it here.
Materials We Use
• Over time there have been lots of inquires concerning the products we use during our restorations. So, we’ve decided to start a new page detailing our experiences with what we’ve found to be the best out there.
Lately we've been experimenting with some new products so the page has been updated. Please check back periodically as this will be regularly updated.
Customer Testimonials
• Earlier this year we received a really nice letter from one of our customers in British Columbia. That along with some others that folks have been so kind to send us are shown here.
Press
• The article is now a bit old but its ‘coolness’ hasn’t diminished with age (at least as far as we’re concerned). So check out the New York Times feature on us. Click here for a link to the article. (or download a PDF version- 40K)
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