I try to keep things simple in the shop. Occasionally projects will overlap, particularly when big projects like the Fujikawa Bench are happening. But mostly it’s one project at a time.

Last summer things got a bit more complicated. I decided to restore two old wood-canvas canoes, more or less simultaneously. Both projects came with history. One canoe was a rescue that had been sitting in the shop for years, waiting patiently for the right moment. The other canoe was one of the first boats that I ever worked on, back in the late 1980s. It’s hard to explain why I started both canoes at the same time. It seemed like a good idea but it probably wasn’t. The shop has been hectic and crowded for months.

Neither canoe is finished so this post is not really about those canoes. This post is about a small project that I started while waiting for paint to dry. But this post and the two that follow are also about projects and stories that span decades.

Here’s a photo from June 1987. It’s taken in Killarney Provincial Park.

The canoe -Neegik- belongs to my friend Les. The next post is about Neegik and how it wound up in my shop, again, in 2025. This post is about the paddle in the picture. It’s my old Grassmere. It’s a peculiar rectangular shape. Some describe it as the ‘voyageur’ style, though there’s not much evidence that voyageurs used paddles shaped like that. It’s not a widely appreciated design, but I love it. My Grassmere paddle reminds me of days long ago in Guelph, noodling around on the Speed, Eramosa and Grand Rivers or of trips in Algonquin, Killarney and Temagami.

Paddling in Coastal BC is different. Paddling here usually involves carbon-kevlar whitewater paddles, sea kayak paddles or laminated bent-shaft outrigger paddles. Wood canvas canoes and simple wood paddles don’t make much sense here, but they have a special place in my heart.

Last week as I finished painting Neegik I realized that I needed to find a distraction. Something that would keep me from rushing into the final cleanup work instead of patiently letting the paint cure. A new flatwater paddle would be the ideal project. Over the years I’ve tried making them but could never quite get the lively flex and spring of my Grassmere.

Luckily there was a suitable piece of maple in the shop, and I spent the next couple of days focused on paddle making, leaving Neegik alone for a while.

With its tapered blade this new paddle looks a bit more refined than the Grassmere. And on dry land, at least, it feels a lot like the Grassmere. One day soon we’ll get it out on the water.

Eastern Maple, Linseed Oil, Spar Varnish