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New canoe coming


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Actually, it's an old canoe that's coming. It's a two-person canoe made out of Royalex. Royalex is pert near impervious to damage. It's wide and likely slow, but stable. I'll leave it at the waterfront property I just bought. 

 

I was walking in town and saw a fleet of canoes and kayaks stacked behind a house, so I knocked on the door and asked the guy if any were for sale. He said he was a Maine guide, but mostly retired, so he might want to sell one. I told him I'd give him a week to decide, so I knocked again a week later and he walked me out back to show me an old red canoe with rotten gunwales. He had already rewebbed the seats.

 

"I've already cut new, ash gunwales for it," he explained, "and I"ll finish and install them. I'll also repaint the canoe."

 

"May I pick the color?" I asked, wanting a dark green canoe.

 

"As long as it's Maine guide green, you may."

 

 BTW, Maine guide green is dark green, so I smiled.

 

"My last question is whether I can afford it."

 

"Can you afford $350?"

 

I offered him a down payment, but he said that he doesn't accept something without giving something.

 

"Pay me when it's ready."

 

So, he's a good guy and it'll be a good canoe. Not fancy enough to tempt anyone to steal it and sturdy enough to leave it outside year-round. Also, heavy enough for me to go fishing on windier days than my Kevlar canoe allows. I might even be able to stand in it. I decided against a V-hull or jon boat because then I'd have to buy a motor too and haul the motor out of the woods in late fall and haul gasoline into the woods and on and on. Plus, there's the greater cost. Plus-plus, I love paddling. 

 

I'll post a photo when I fetch it. 

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I have a Bill Coleman Craft Canoe that was built in the early 70s.

And yes, Bill Coleman was sued by Coleman Canoes but being an irrassable codger he won.

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Sounds like quite a score!  I don't know that I'd be willing to rehab and repaint a canoe for $350.  That's a lot of work and materials.  

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When I was younger, I lived my canoe, but later, no one wanted to go with me, ended up going to a kayak.  Still have fond memories of my canoe days !!

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4 minutes ago, airshot said:

When I was younger, I lived my canoe, but later, no one wanted to go with me, ended up going to a kayak.  Still have fond memories of my canoe days !!

I solo canoe frequently, did it Saturday. You sit in the front seat and face backwards, levels it out. 

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@ol'crickety Great story…. Love “old school values”  Sounds like the canoe will serve you well.

Did you get a storage shed yet? I don’t the accessibility to your property, but would a pre built shed from Home Depot or Lowe’s. Get it it big enough to put a couple of bunks in it later on.

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On 3/4/2024 at 7:11 AM, GRiver said:

@ol'crickety Great story…. Love “old school values”  Sounds like the canoe will serve you well.

Did you get a storage shed yet? I don’t the accessibility to your property, but would a pre built shed from Home Depot or Lowe’s. Get it it big enough to put a couple of bunks in it later on.

 

After prolonged deliberation, here's what I'll be doing with the property: 

 

1. In 2025, I'll pay a guy I know to clear a driveway and lay some gravel. He's the really good guy who built my leach field and he has decency, know-how, and all the big toys. 

 

2. That same summer, with the driveway in, I'll build a frame and pour some cement to make a pad for a shed. I'll then assemble a metal shed on that pad and screw it in place. I've worked with cement a few times in my life, but have never drilled into it, so that part worries me a little. I figure I'll watch some YouTube videos and be fine.

 

3. In 2026, with the driveway providing access, I'll pay a company to build a boardwalk atop the 25' of wetland between the shoreline and open water. 

 

IF I had the money, I'd do all of this now, but I don't. In the meantime, I can simply walk through the woods and hop through the swamp to launch my canoe.

 

I decided against building a home there because:

 

A. No more money.

 

B. I've rehabbed two homes in the last 11 years and I don't want to do a third. Too tuckered. 

 

C. The pond is only five minutes away and keeping a shoreline green is always a good thing. 

 

D. I LOVE my current home. Several master tradesmen worked nine months on it and I worked side-by-side with them, doing all the idiot tasks. 

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Katie your life and Maine sounds so romantic in my mind, I'd almost never want to visit because I have such a beautiful picture of it after learning it from you.  

 

You remind me so much of Mark Twain, just a more regal Maine version 😁  

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Mark Twain is one of my favorite Americans, up there with Lincoln, Ike, and FDR, so your comparing me to him made me laugh, but I do appreciate it. Like Twain, I am both a writer and did comedy, so we have that in common, but I'm 0.00001 Twain. I'll shoot you some photos of my home in messaging. I live in one of Maine's prettiest towns, but right on edge, because I need a little greenery round me (Five acres of trees!). 

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5 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

. I've rehabbed two homes in the last 11 years and I don't want to do a third. Too tuckered. 

I whole heartedly understand …. Have done a few too, lived in them while rehabbing too. I don’t want to live in another construction zone. 

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22 minutes ago, GRiver said:

I don’t want to live in another construction zone. 

 

You do understand.

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