Three keels

[KennyR]

My new to me,1922 OT guide had two additional keels installed sometime in its past. They were removed during restoration but why would they have been there in the first place?
They were about a foot outboard of the centerline and 10 to 12ft long,at least that's where the screw holes are in the ribs.

Any ideas?

 

[Benson Gray]

These were known as bilge keels as shown at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/43762/ and elsewhere. They were frequently added for summer camps to protect the bottom in situations were the canoe was frequently pulled up on a dock for example.

Benson

 

[ppine]

The original use for wood canoes in Maine was shallow, rocky streams. If you look at the relatively flat bottom of an OT Guide it is obvious. They tended to be large canoes to keep them high in the water. I believe the bilge keels were designed to protect the bottom of canoes in shallow streams which Maine is full of. Good for rocks, but not so good for rivers with current, so the compromise became a single keel. I prefer no keel at all for running rivers.

 

[KennyR]

This is the first canoe I've owned with a keel. I'm familiar with bilge keels on sailboats that need to stay upright when the tide goes out,but had never thought of them on a canoe. I'm sure they do help protect the bottom from rocks,docks,and gravel driveways.