Month: August 2016

The Adirondack Museum asked me to be an Artisan-in Residence to demonstrate making guideboat paddles.  So from Wednesday through Saturday of this week (August 22nd) I have been at the Marion River Pavilion at the Museum in Blue Mountain, NY.

Guideboat paddles had their origin in enabling guides to take their “sports” hunting.  The guide would be in the stern of the guideboat with his paddle and the sport in the bow with his rifle.  The usual method of propelling the boat, oars, was too noisy for hunting.  The guide and his sport usually set forth at night and prowled along the edges of marshes.  When they heard a deer splashing about the sport would light a candle lantern and “jack” the deer.  This practice was outlawed in NY State around 1900.

Later on, when the wealthy bought guideboats to use for pleasure, steering paddles began to be used.  These were shorter than guide’s paddles and were used as a rudder by the passenger who sat in the stern seat while the oarsman rowed from the bow.  You can learn more about these paddles and their history from my book “Guideboat Paddles An Adirondack Treasure”.

Below is a sign announcing my presence.  I am in the Marion River Pavillion at the Museum.

I have brought my latest guideboat and reproductions of guideboat paddles from the Museum’s collection.

The Marion River Carry is an historic pathway between Blue Mountain Lake and Raquette Lake. Below is some history about it.

Here is the original locomotive used on the Marion River carry.

Here are the train cars used on the Marion River Carry.

Inside the building on the left is a 3-D diorama where model steamers and trains move as the narrator tells the story of how an elaborate transportation system brought tourists to Raquette and Blue Mountain Lakes at the turn of the 20th century. It is very well done.

 

John Homer commented on the beautiful straps that were on my latest guideboat.  Indeed, when I looked at all the guideboats on exhibit at the Adirondack Museum I could find none that came even close to them in attractiveness.  Below is one of mine.

John wanted to find out where I got these great accessories for my boat.  I told him I had no idea since they were given to me by my neighbor, Diane, here in Long Lake.  Her husband, Dayton, was very fond of guideboats and planned to build two of them.  He started to acquire the things to do so, the fasteners, spruce roots, and horns and straps.  Sadly, before he could start building, cancer overtook him and his dream was never realized.  Diane, knowing I build this splendid craft, graciously gave me his trove of guideboat items.

John was disappointed that there was no known way to purchase the straps.  But that didn’t deter him. He said “I’ll cast my own if you lend me one of your straps”.  I thought “Wow, this is impressive.  Someone who can cast something like that”.

It turns out that John is a quite a creative guy who doesn’t shy away from a challenge like this.  He makes own hand tools like the ones below.

John lives in Watertown, which enables him to spend a lot of time in the Adirondacks.  He built his own guideboat which he races in the fall 90 miler.  He makes paddles including a custom paddle for the 90 miler.  We will talk about that another time.

So John researched the process for making a pattern of my strap that could then be used into cast a replica of it.  So here is what is involved.  First you need material to make a mold of the original strap.  You then use the mold to make a pattern that, in turn is used for making the actual casting.

Here is the silicon rubber molding material.

It comes in two parts that are mixed together.  Here is John mixing the molding material.

The strap is then securely fastened into a box that will contain the molding material.  Before doing that the holes in the strap that receive the pins are sealed with clay.

The next step is to pour the molding material into the box to cover the strap by at least an inch or so.

The molding material needs to cure for at least six hours.  John took the setup with him so that could cast some patterns during the coming week.  Here is the material he used to make the strap pattern.

Here is one of the patterns he gave me when he returned.  it is truly an exact reproduction of my strap.

John made these patterns of horns used with pinned oars using the same process.

The next step is construct a foundry to cast the straps using the proper alloy.  John has researched that as well.  In his travels he found that a mini-foundry could be made from a 5 gallon metal pail.  So perhaps by next summer that will be a reality and we can cast some straps.

In the meantime, I will be at the Adirondack Museum from this coming Wednesday, August 24th to Saturday, August 27th as an Artist-in-Residence.  I will be demonstrating making guideboat paddles and talking about the history of using them to hunt and for just cruising around.  Come and see me if you are around.

Next time: guideboat for sale.

 

 

Every summer the Northeast US states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine take a census of the loons on their lakes.  It is always done on the same day and at the same time.  This year it was on July 16th from 8 am to 9 am.

I volunteered to take a section of Long Lake below the bridge.   I was given about a half mile square section near the cove where out camp is.  On the appointed day I awoke at 7 am to the call of a loon out on the lake. This will be a piece of cake I thought.  We had seen two loons hanging out around our cove for a number of days so I assumed they would be out front waiting for me.

I decided to use my guideboat to search for the loons.  It is quiet and unobtrusive and somehow it invokes the old way of doing things.  The morning was overcast with a strong, chilly breeze out of the west.  Here I am suited up with binoculars ready to cast off.

Here are the boundaries of my section.  The southern boundary is a rocky point just off our cove and the northern boundary is Great Camp Greatstone.

 

I was to take a line straight off these two landmarks to the far shore to define my search area.  Here is a view towards the north showing the conditions that day.

Well, I rowed around the area for an hour and nary a loon did I see.  Where were they?  Of course, the very next day they were both back as you can see.

The results of the census were pretty much what was reported over the last 5 years.  There were 11 loons counted, 4 below the bridge, and 7 north of the bridge.  As I recall, there were no loons seen below the bridge 10 years ago.  The area below the bridge is much more populated that that north of the bridge.  It is a much smaller area, about 3-4 miles long, compared to that north of the bridge, which is about 10 miles long.  Yet the loons don’t seem to mind the increased human activity; the motor boats, jet skis, kayakers and canoe parties.

Sometimes the loons carry on when one of Helm’s Aero Service float planes does a takeoff run down the lake. But it is probably just what Tom Helm’s says “Well, I drove off that big bird again”.  Sometimes they stop to yodel at Tom as he flies over and at other times I have seen them totally ignore the planes.  As the census shows they are obviously quite at home south of the bridge.

Helms Aero Service is certainly a landmark in Long Lake.  Tom’s father Herb founded it, with his brother Gib, in 1947.  Both Herb and Gib served in the European theater in World War II.  Herb flew 30 missions as a navigator on B-17’s while Gib was shot down and spent most of the War as a POW.

Tom joined his father as a pilot in 1972.  In nearly 70 years Helms Aero Service has never had an accident.  Here are some photos of the Helms enterprise.

One of the two Aero service planes is show below.

A Helms plane takes off down the lake.

One last anecdote.  The fellow who built our Long Lake camp, Greg Wallace, grew up in Long Lake.  He said that a sure sign of spring in Long Lake was the first time they heard one of Tom’s planes take-off.

Next time: John Homer pays a visit.

Last fall I reported on how beavers had set up shop in a bank under a tree next to our dock.  That was not a problem until they started winter preparations by bringing in saplings and brush to feed on during the winter.  This feed bed began to choke off our channel to the main lake.  Our son Robbie was able to clear away most of the debris by paddling around in our guideboat and snagging it with a grappling hook fashioned from an anchor.

The beavers were not deterred however.  As soon as we left in the fall they constructed a mammoth feed bed the almost totally blocked the channel.  When we returned in June, I was able to just squeak by it in my guideboat and row on the main lake.  While returning from on such voyage I suddenly found that  I was dragging a 15 foot long sapling.  It had somehow attached itself to the boat’s stern as I passed over the feed bed.

The source of the problem involved the stern stem band.  The two screws holding it to the base of the stem had corroded until they could no longer hold the band.  The loose band provided a “hook” that snagged the sapling.  Fortunately the band didn’t snap off while towing the sapling.  Here is a photo of the detached stem band.

Not wanting to take the time just then to properly repair the band I resorted to the time-tested emergency fix-duct tape.

Its embarrassing to row around with a duct tape repair on a guideboat you have built yourself.  So out came the boat and proper repairs were done.  It was simply done by replacing the two corroded screws.  It is no wonder they corroded.  The boat is in its 19th summer this year.

Now back to the beaver’s barricade.  Here I am standing on the entrance to their bank lodge.  The saplings I am holding are just like the one that caught on the stem band.

Our son Robbie was visiting for the July Fourth weekend so he was pressed into service again.  This time a boat wasn’t needed.  The lake water level was low enough so that an attack could be made on the feed bed from the shore.  Here he is casting out his anchor grappling hook in an attempt to snag some of the feed bed.

A successful attempt.

After many hours of hard work the is channel clear again.  Here is one pile of stuff dredged from the channel.  It is mainly Alder and thickets taken from the marshes near us.

Well done Rob.

Next time I go on a loon census via guideboat.