I'm familiar with most of the common heirloom canoes. We have worked on countless Old Town canoes, some from the early 1900's, and some built as recently as 1980. We also get in quite a few Chestnuts, the famed Canadian brand of canoes. J. H. Rushton, Kennebec, E. M. White, B. N. Morris, Carlton, Peterborough and the Canadian Canoe Company canoes have all been repaired in our shop, and of course Thompson Brothers and Shell Lake canoes, both from Wisconsin are common visitors. More locally I have had numerous opportunities to repair canoes built by Lloyd Rehbein who built for many years at his home just outside of Duluth, and I have also been honored to work on a few built by Joe Seliga of Ely, Minnesota. I've repaired some strip canoes built by Peterborough Canoe Company and the  strip canoes built by Joe Lucius of the Brule River in Wisconsin.

The repair jobs vary depending on what needs to be repaired on the boat and how much the customer wants done.  I am more than happy to get out of stripping varnish or reapplying it, for that matter. If you do want me to strip the varnish, though, I ask that you leave the canvas on because it is easier (and less sloppy) to strip with the canvas still on.

One of the many wonderful qualities of the wood and canvas canoe is that everything about them is repairable. Most models are made such that any and all parts can be removed and replaced. No glue was traditionally used in these canoes so things can often be "unscrewed" and removed. When replacing new wood, especially ribs, I will go to great lengths to try to match them to the old wood. I will "antique" them by putting in scratches similar to the others, and stain them to match as best  possible.

While all wood and canvas canoes and boats are repairable, some, quite frankly, may be too far gone to make it worthwhile. I find, though, that many people are not always able to judge the condition of the boat. Some boats arrive with tattered canvas, blackened varnish and maybe a hole in the planking and a broken rib or two and the customer thinks the boat may be beyond repair. Not so! These things are easily repaired, but others arrive revealing a boat that was used hard over the years and left outside for several. The varnish is eaten by ultra violet rays and the wood is rotting and all dried out. The planking may have shrunk so there are 1/4" gaps between planks and virtually all the ribs are cracked or broken. This is a boat probably not worth saving unless it is a very rare breed with great sentimental attachments!