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My friend Jon and his friend Kevin are dedicated guideboat racers.  Gudieboat racing has waned since it’s heyday back in the 1960’s or so when Howard Seaman and his son John made it popular.  Howard recruited a cadre of young and old to take up guideboat racing.  On race day the shore around the Long Lake town beach would be lined three or four deep with spectators.

I only participated in one guideboat race.  There were two other contestants in that race, Mary Beth and another fellow.  Now Mary Beth was a former protege of Howards so I knew I was up against stiff competition.   The course was rather straight forward.  The start was at the town beach.  We were then to head north for about a mile or so and round a buoy and head back to the beach.

We lined up in our boats and awaited the shouted command to Go!.  At the start and very unusual thing happened.  We all strained mightily on our oars to get underway as quickly as possible.  The fellow on my right put a little too much into his first stroke.  Crack! One of his oars broke in two! So now I was assured of second place.

Mary Beth was off like a shot.  That was the last I saw of her except maybe after she rounded the buoy and was heading home.  I soon learned an ingrained truth about solo guideboat racing.  You can only see what is behind you.  I kept thinking ” Where is the buoy?”  You can try to turn your head to see what’s coming.  That only gives minimal results.  I eventually reached the buoy but yards away from it.  Ideally you want to be as close to the buoy as you round it to save precious time.  I finally made the turn and headed back to the beach.  Mary Beth had long since arrived at the finish line when I pulled up.  I had gained an enormous appreciation for guideboat racing and those who choose to do so.

So back to Jon and Kevin.  They were in a rigorous training program to prepare for the Adirondack 90 Mile Canoe Race.  Now the 90 mile race consists mainly of canoes but there some hardy souls who race guideboats.  As a part of their training, Kevin and Jon signed up for the Tupper Lake 8 Miler.  The 8 Miler starts at the town beach on Simon Pond, proceeds under the Route 30 bridge and up the Raquette River to the Oxbow and back to the beach.

On he day of the race the heavens opened and it poured rain.  Fran and I were undecided as to whether we would go to see the send off.  At the lost minute we opted to go.  It was a good decision because, just as we arrived at the beach, the rain stopped.  Here I am at the Tupper 8 Mile Race Banner.

 

Here are some photos and a narrative of the day’s happenings.

First, Jon and his vessel, Thankful.  Thankful was the third guideboat I built.  She was built from the lines taken off the Queen Anne, a favorite guideboat of the Pruyn family. The  Pruyn family built Great Camp Santononi in Newcomb in the 1890’s.  They were great lovers of all sorts of small craft.

The Queen Anne was built by Caleb Chase of Newcomb.  Caleb’s wife was named Thankful, hence the name given to this boat to honor a master guideboat builder.  As you will see, Thankful  is not only a beautiful girl but tough as nails.  She is constructed of Spanish Cedar planking. Now Spanish Cedar is not really a cedar but is more like a light-weight mahogany   What makes her a tough girl are her ribs. They are laminated from thin strips of wood held together with resorcinol glue.  On a weight/strength basis her ribs are stronger that steel.

 

 

Guideboats are usually raced by two individuals, a rower in the forward station, and a paddler in the stern seat.  Jon and his partner Kevin, make an excellent team.

When a guideboat racing pair are at peak performance they are unbeatable.  The rower can watch for their competition as it attempts to overtake them.  The team then adjusts their position to thwart the threat.  The paddler looks ahead and steers the craft to avoid obstacles and gains advantage by slip streaming in other boat’s wakes.  The paddler acts as a cocksun by setting the pace.  He can call for a sprint to overtake another craft or a dash to the finish line.

As each member of the team becomes exhausted during a race they can switch positions.  This is easily done during a carry (portage) but not so easy when underway.  When underway the rower lets go of the oars, stands up and moves towards the stern with feet wide apart.  The paddler stows the paddle and ducks under the rower.   If all goes as planned they are underway without losing momentum,

Here are Howard Seaman and his son John performing that maneuver.

Now it is time to head for the starting line.

Taking position.

Thankful took position on the outside of the starting line hoping to ride the wakes of other boats.  The course went from the beach at Simon Pond to under the bridge at Route 30 and up the Raquette River to the Oxbow and back home.

Trouble arose at the Route 30 bridge.  Because of the high water this year, it was everybody down as the Thankful passed under the bridge.  Jon, paddling, was concentrating on making sure Kevin’s head was down when they went under the bridge.  Thankful drifted to the side of the bridge abutment.   An oar tip got caught on a submerged wood crib.  The pinned oars are mandatory for guideboats in races.  That means there is no “give” when the oar rams against something solid like a river bank or pier  In this case Thankful  absorbed a tremendous lateral shock.  This would have caused significant damage to traditional guideboats with ribs made from roots.  Such a ram could capsize the boat, split the gunnel, and crack ribs.

As I said earlier, Thankful is a tough lady.  Jon and Kevin pulled over to assess the damage.  Fortunately all they found was a broken screw behind the oar plate.  They jumped back into the race and kept up the pace despite not changing positions,  They wanted to make up for the lost time at the bridge.  As they re-entered Lake Simon nearing the finish line, Jon checked in with Kevin who was still rowing.  “Are you good for a sprint?  Let’s take that guy in a solo canoe 50 yards ahead”.  “Sure” and off they went.

Jon always looks for his family at the finish line.  Here they are, patiently waiting.

Next time, the 90 miler and fame for Jon and Kevin.

A few years back I sold my third guideboat to a fella named Jon.   Jon was the perfect one to take Thankful out of my care.  He was so intuitive about my parting with my creation that it almost felt s though he was asking for the hand of my daughter in marriage.  Jon has a beautiful family and we have kept contact and check in during our summers in the Adirondacks.

Thankful was named after Caleb Chase’s wife whose maiden name was Thankful Preston.  Now Caleb created the Queen Anne, the guideboat my friend Susan inherited from her mother.  The Queen Anne was her grandmother’s favorite guideboat of the boat livery at Great Camp Santanoni.  The full story of the Queen Anne is in my book ‘Tales of an Adirondack Guideboat and How to Build One”.

I sent many an hour one summer taking every dimension off the Queen Anne so that I could build one just like her.  Little did I know then that I would write a book on the history of that boat and how to build it.  I still refer to my book as I build my fifth guideboat.

I am proud to say that Thankful is now being entered in guideboat races.  She is not only beautiful but tough.  Her laminated ribs are stronger that steel on a strength to weight basis.  Jon and his friend recently entered a guideboat race in the Saranac Lakes and here is his story,

 

“Here’s a short recap of the race I mentioned.

On may 8th, 2021, Thankful successfully competed in the Round the Mountain Canoe and Kayak Race in Saranac Lake in the 2 person Guideboat division. This is a 10.5 mile race that starts on Ampersand Bay on Lower Saranac, circumnavigates Dewey Mt via the Saranac River and Oseetah Lake and finishes on Lake Flower. The race also features a short portage( or “carry” in the local vernacular) around a lock on the river. It’s a classic Adirondack event!

 

My canoe partner from the last few 90 milers and I have been talking about doing the 90 in a guideboat for a while, being one of the only boat classes we haven’t completed the race in. After a solitary group training session beforehand (and a full Covid year and spring on our own!), we showed up ready to learn!

It was a cool, dreary day with some light sprinkles and wind. In other words, a perfect day for an Adirondack race… Social distance precautions were taken by all and the post race awards were subdued but it was certainly nice to be back to racing!

There was one other 2 person guideboat on hand although we didn’t get as much of a chance to chat as I would have liked. Our good friend, John Homer, however, showed up to offer some technical, mechanical and moral support and it was great to catch up with him along with some of our other racing friends for a bit before hitting the water.

Since the carry was about half-way into the race, we agreed that we would switch rowing/paddling stations there as opposed to swapping on the water. It’s a tricky move involving one racer climbing over the other but we practiced it a few times just in case.

We took off from the starting line with a pair of 4 person canoes and tried to hang with their wake as long as we could. We threaded through a few islands and into the Saranac River entrance by the impressive Bluff island and began to feel the benefits of the current immediately. There are a couple of shortcuts that can be a bit tricky in low water but since the water was up, we took them to try to stay in front of the pack. Just after the Route 3 bridge, my family was there cheering us on which was a nice boost. It was just beyond this point that the fast kayak wave caught up with us. I was sort of surprised that no one else from our own wave had caught up or passed us. I guess we were moving along!

We followed the channel markers of the river closely as this section has a number of submerged rocks and stumps that could end your race very quickly. It wasn’t long before reaching the carry, along with another current boost from Cold Brook just beforehand.

The carry is a short up/down around the lock and we opted to just carry the boat upright and get back into the water quickly. Just before the crest of the hill I tripped on a root and fell, hitting my shoulder on the boat on my way down. I took a moment to make sure everything was still functional (on the boat and my body!) before heading down to the water. I hopped in first and grabbed the oars.

It was here that the heavy winds extracted their cost. Oseetah Lake is a shallow, stump filled lake that can really kick up waves when the winds are up and today was one of those days. A solid crosswind kept the waves lapping at the gunnels the entire way across before a respite behind an island and the channel leading to Lake Flower. My partner earned his paycheck here, keeping us on course! A couple more shortcuts and the final push was on. We crossed the finish line at almost precisely the 2 hour mark, my personal goal for the race.

All told, it was a great day on the water in the Adirondacks! My partner and I both agreed that it was a good prelude to our summer of training for the 90. We have a lot to sort out logistically between now and then but it became much clearer exactly what we need to work on. Switching from canoe to guideboat is a lot more than just getting out of one boat and into another!!. But one thing is clear, Thankful is a fantastic, fast craft and is more than up to the test!”

I am one proud father! Let’s go for the 90 miler!

 

Narrative

You might remember that the old time Adirondack guideboat builders used roots of red spruce trees for constructing the ribs and stems of their guideboats.  They cut sections from the stumps where the root fanned out.  The stumps were huge and it took enormous amount of work to dig the stump out of the ground and cut out the sections.  All this was done by hand!  But it gave these frontier boat builders strong, light ribs and stems for their boats.  Since they had none of the modern glues we have today, it was an ingenious solution that overcame the major boatbuilding obstacle confronting them.

I built my first three guideboats using ribs and stems that were laminated.  I took thin strips of wood and  glued them together in a mold having the shape of the desired rib or stem.  This gave me very strong, light-weight ribs.  The problem was that it took forever to produce a set of guideboat ribs.

For my last guideboat I was able to acquire red spruce roots from a local Adirondack boat builder.  This time around I wasn’t as fortunate.  There were no red spruce roots to be had.  All available roots were spoken for.  Then  I remembered my old friend Josh.  Josh was the first boat builder-in-residence at the Adirondack Museum.  One of his first tasks was to renovate the steam launch Osprey.  The osprey is on permanent exbibit on the Museum’s campus.

The Osprey has a small wheel house to protect the captain from foul weather.  Josh thought it would be a good idea to restore the vertical side boards of wheel house.  To add some spice to the wheel house he decided to use dark and light varnish to give a striped appearance.  Here I am following orders.

Josh became the first boat builder in residence at the Museum.  His job was to build an Adirondack guideboat employing  the same  materials and methods used by the original builders.  This was all done in full view of the visitors.  To give him time to work, I acted as a docent to answer questions posed by visitors.

Josh then struck out on his own and formed his own venture, J. W. Swan Boat shop in Northern Wisconsin on the shore of Lake Superior.   He became aware of bogs there where hackmatack trees grew.  He knew that a fella named Newman had started a business, Newman’s Knees, that harvested the “knees” or roots from these trees. Newman sold the knees to boatbuilders, furniture makers and others who could exploit these unusual materials.   Tragically Newman was killed when  a tree he was harvesting fell on him.

I gave Josh a call and we renewed an old friendship.   Sure enough he could supply my needs for roots to provide the ribs and stems for my next guideboat.  He now has a family of two boys who love helping their father in the boat shop.  Here they are steam bending canoe ribs.

As you’ll see from his telling below, Josh takes extra care in transforming roots into ribs and stems.  It starts in the shop where he has just started converting roots to ribs.  Here is his narrative about the rib preparation.

“With all of that I am closing the gap on your ribs/stems.  It sure feels good to open them up.  The shop smells fantastic!  Some folks find it off putting but I do love the astringent pungent aroma of tamarack.  I get the same satisfaction when I am cutting them out in the swamps  It’s clean and crisp, like pine sol concentrate.  I think there is a misconception that it would be boggy and anaerobic.”

In another missive Josh writes, ” Everything got resawn last week.  I moved everything outside when I wasn’t processing it.  I didn’t want it to dry too quickly.  I left some scraps in here over the weekend to see how it’d do in the dry heat.  I checked the scraps this morning.  They were down to 16-18% moisture content with no checking or other issues.  I moved everything back in and stickered it up.  I’ll keep it in here to peal off more moisture to get it down to 16-18% (its 20% now) which will take a few more days.  I probably could have been a little braver and kept it all inside, but I tend to move cautiously.  Once it is drier, I’ll thickness sand it, get it boxed, and route it to you.  Thanks so much for your patience.”

Here are the ribs almost ready to ship.

Below is a flyer advertising Josh’s tamarack roots.  If you need knees you can contact Josh at BOATSHOPTRICKS.COM/KNEES or call him at (715) 373-0126

 

Next time we make guideboat furniture.

 

 

This is my fifth guideboat so you would think constructing a bottom board would be a piece of cake by now.  After all I have templates for both the top and bottom of the board so laying it out should be easy.

I have clear white pine stock from Hearne Hardwood that was milled to 5/8′ thick.  I will have to scarf the two 8 foot boards to get enough length for the finished bottom board.  Scarfing has never been a problem before.  I rough cut out the two haves, cut the 6 inch scarf and glue them together.

So off we go.  I cut the two halves to closely match the template, apply the scarf, and glue them together.

Then I noticed that something didn’t look right.  When I sighted down the board it just didn’t look true.  I got out a length of twine and ran it from one end of the board to the other.  If all was true it should pass right over the center of the board.  It didn’t!  No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get the line to pass over the center of the board.  How frustrating!

Well, you can’t start building a guideboat when its foundation is wacky.  So the first try at a bottom board was scrapped.  What was left became a bird feeder.

So lesson learned.  This time I will leave some wiggle room on each side of the scarf.  As I call it “leave it fat”.  Here it is below with the template lying on top.

This bottom board went together without incident.

The above shows two halves of the scarf being glued together.  I used resourcinol glue since it is pretty much impervious to any agent, chemical or other harsh condition.  The glued scarf cross section is shown below.

The next step is to layout the top of the board using my template, and trim it to shape.  Then the board is turned over and the template for the bottom of the board used to trace its shape on the board.  Using a bench plane I remove the excess to form a rolling curve along the edge of each side of the bottom board.  The angle of the bevel along the edge of the bottom board will match the slope of each rib as you go from midships to stem.

I suspended the finished bottom board, with holes drilled for the screws that will hold the ribs in place, on the strong back until it is needed.

Next time we make the guideboat furniture.

 

While dithering about whether to build another guideboat I created a couple of guideboat paddles.  I became intrigued with these distinctive paddles back when I was a volunteer at the Adirondack Museum.  As a part of my pay ($0 as a volunteer) I was allowed to roam the Museum’s collection freely.  I discovered that each guide (and Adirondack Murray} had their own paddle style.  They combined their style with certain features common to all.  I got so engrossed with what one might call folk art that I wrote a book on them.  It is entitled Guideboat Paddles An Adirondack Treasure.

Now you are puzzled.  If the Adirondack guideboat is a row boat, then why a paddle?  This etching, done by Theodore Davis in 1868,  is a clue.  To learn more get ahold of my book.

The paddles I am selling are a reproduction of those used by Rueben Cary, a famous Adirondack guide.  Rueben was born in Long Lake and was the caretaker of the Brandreth Estate for many years.  I am offering two Cary paddles for sale, one made of figured cherry, the other of quarter sawn sycamore.  Here is a full length view of them:

Each paddle is just shy of 6 feet long are hand-crafted from a single piece of stock. The blades are 4 1/2″ wide at the widest point and are 32″ long.

All Adirondack guideboat paddles have a “motif “and a lolly-pop grip.  Each builder had their own characteristic motif.  Here is the motif for the Rueben Cary paddle reproduction done in cherry and sycamore.

Here are views of the grain of each paddle.

The figure on the sycamore paddle is striking and hard to describe.  I would best describe it as “snakeskin”.

Each paddle has five coats of marine spar varnish.  They can be used as a decorative piece or put to work from any self respecting craft.  They will be noticed!

So I am asking $250 for each paddle plus $20 shipping within the US.  As a bonus you get a signed copy of my book on guideboat paddles, a $24.95 value. The price then for a single paddle is $270.

If your would like to buy both paddles the price would be $495 ( I will remove the cost of a second copy of the book and keep the shipping costs the same).

If you would like to purchase a paddle (or two) deposit the amount in my PayPal account (my email is gordonfisher1@verizon,net).  If you would rather send a check, contact me at my email address and I will give you my home address.

Happy Holidays, stay safe,

Gordon

 

 

Should I start another guideboat?  Do I have it in me to see it through?  This will be guideboat number five so  I know well the trials and tribulations that lie ahead.  But, in the end, there isn’t much choice.  The Pandemic has all of us locked down tight.  So I need something to occupy my feeble brain.  So here we go again.

I decide the new boat will be planked of eastern white pine, just as the old time Adirondack boat builders used.  I am unable to source Adirondack red spruce roots for the ribs and stems.  Then I remember that my old buddy Josh sells hackmatack roots.  I met Josh over twenty years ago at the Adirondack Museum.  He was the Museum’s first boat builder in the living boat building exhibit.  His job was to build a guideboat in the traditional fashion in full view of the Museum’s visitors.  I volunteered to act as a docent, answering as many questions as I could from the visitors.  This freed up up Josh to do the building.  After a two year stint at the Museum Josh moved on to Wisconsin where he established a boat building shop near the shores of Lake Superior.  He soon found that hackmatack trees were being harvested there but the stumps were being left behind.  “Aha! “,  he said.  “I know what to do with those”. So he has grown his business selling hackmatack roots to boat builders and others.

Recently he found a forester who needed help felling some enormous white pines whose tops had been blown out by the gales off Lake Superior.  Josh lent a hand and now I’ll have a source of excellent planking stock for my boat.

My next step is to get some high quality white pine for my new boat’s bottom board.  For that I’ll travel into Southern Pennsylvania from Delaware to Hearne Hardwoods.   For woodworkers Hearne is the Holy Grail.  Rick Hearne travels world-wide to obtain the most exotic selection of hard and soft woods,   Customers come from far and wide to find stock to build the most creative furniture, musical instruments and, of course, boats.

You could spend several days inside Hearne’s warehouse and still not see it all.  It is sort of a do-it-yourself lumber smorgasborg,   You may have to climb stairs to find  the bin that holds the stock you are seeking.  The bin holding white pine planks is on the second level.  These planks are not at all puny.  They are usually 12 feet long, 12 inches wide and four quarters thick.  I find two that look  promising so down they come.

I have brought along the bottom board template to make sure I can get a whole bottom board from one of the planks.  I’ll need to scarf two half bottom boards together since I would need a plank over 14 feet long to avoid scarfing.  The planks at Hearne go up to 12 feet so I will have to scarf.  Here I check the suitability of a plank using the bottom board half template.  I’ll use the entire plank by going back and forth on the 12 foot plank.

Walking into the warehouse at Hearne is like being a kid in a candy store for a woodworker.  Bins of various species of domestic and foreign wood line one wall.  As I said before, the bins go up two stories. On the floor are large crates full of a miscellany of odd objects that would attract only a dedicated woodworker,  These include burls and exotic wood species of various sizes and shapes.  No woodworker worth his salt will go home empty handed from Hearne.

Next, a gentleman measures your plank and gives you a small slip of paper with its dimensions to take for payment at the office.  While I am paying for the stock it is being surface planed to 5/8″ thick, the final thickness of the bottom board.  Hearne has a wide array of machinery to process raw lumber into finished stock.

Before I leave the warehouse I notice a distinctive touch that you could only find here.  I have no idea what its fate is.

I pay at the office that is charmed by wood from all over the globe.

Next time I start constructing the new boat’s bottom board and hit an unexpected roadblock.

The Adirondack Museum (Experience) has put out a new video about present day Adirondack boatbuilders.  Some of my favorite people are in it.  I was the docent for nearly 20 years while Allison Warner built guideboat after guideboat in the Museum’s boat shop.  She did an incredible job somehow overcoming many interruptions while building a very difficult to build wooden craft.  Also in the video is my buddy John Homer of Adirondack Rowboat and Oar.  John is an extremely creative fellow who is learning the art of metal casting so that he can reproduce some of the historic guideboat hardware.  Go to:

ADKX Video Series

“In the Shop with Adirondack Boatbuilders Learn about the traditions, stories, and skills of boatbuilders and explore how the world of boats and boating is changing in the twenty-first century.”

Or to :

In the Shop with Adirondack Boatbuilders

“Boats and boat builders are an integral part of Adirondack history.  The region fostered the creation of a distinctive work boat that is strong, lightweight, and beautiful using locally sourced materials to meet the needs of Adirondack guides.  In the ship with Adirondack Builders will dive into the traditions, stories, and skills of boatbuilders and explore how the world of boats and boating is changing the twenty-first century.”

We are staying in the North Country longer this year.  It is late September  and we have had two heavy frosts.  The fall foliage is at its peak now.  Here is a view of the frozen marsh that lies just in front of our camp.

Here are two more views of the marsh in its fall clothing.  The marsh always expresses the time of year.  In the Spring it is pea green with the newness of life.  As summer wears on it begins to take a golden hue, then to a deep red in parts as Autumn approaches.

Here is a view of the marsh out our window.

The drive from Long Lake to Tupper Lake is spectacular.  Here are some photos taken from the shore of Tupper Lake.

Its time for one last guideboat row.  The Frances C. is 23 years old this summer.  She still looks great, not showing much wear and tear.  Since she’s made of Atlantic white cedar she will never rot so she will way out live me.

I have the lake all to myself now (except for a few canoe-campers heading north).  The character of the lake has changed since summer.  Once buoyant and sparkly she can display a brooding mood.

Another view out the stern shows how the lake surface can take on a “hard, even metallic” look.

I spot three boaters coming north.  They are quite aways away, down by Moose island when they first come into view.  There are two kayaks and a two man canoe.  As they draw near I hail one of them “Where are you headed”,  I ask. “Tupper Lake.  Are there campsites nearby? ”   “There are a few on the east side of the lake about 3 to 4 miles ahead.  But the best sites are at north end at Turtle Beach.”, I reply.  “Do you think we can make it there this afternoon?”  “Well, you have a gentle following breeze and about 4 hours of daylight left”.  They have a impromptu discussion and resume paddling.

With some sadness I return back to our dock, haul Frances out of the lake and contemplate a return next Spring.