I have thought back four years and the out wales are black walnut. I have worked a bit with walnut and have seen a lot of variation. The decks on this canoe are also walnut but from a different plank and the decks are darker with a distinctive flow to the grain. The rails may have been edge wood which would be softer and lighter but still walnut.
I just returned from a camping trip on Rock Island, just off the Door County peninsula of NE Wisconsin. We take the ferry from the mainland to Washington Island, drive across Washington Island and then paddle the two miles to Rock Island. Friday morning we woke up to steady breeze that gathered force as the morning wore on and we packed up to go. Amy suggested we wait a bit to see if the wind dies down. This passage is NOT the infamous Deaths Door, there is a sand spit that separates Green Bay from Lake Michigan. The bay we paddle across is part of Green Bay and the water gets confused in a wind like we had. This modified Prospector has great stability especially when loaded and I never hesitated and told Amy I thought the wind would build all day and we would have to take the ferry which I didn't want to do. We were never in any danger even when we were going through 3 foot rollers but the wind was relentless and I found out later it was topping 30 - 35 MPH and we had to stay straight into it to maintain stability. The ranger who was watching us from shore, told us later he spotted us and 20 minutes later we were in the same spot. Took us 2 hours to make the 2 mile crossing but the canoe never wavered. Amy went through all the terror of the realization that if she relaxed in the bow for a moment we would lose ground or worse, lose our angle to the waves. She became convinced that I was just stirring tea in the stern - the classic bow/stern tension - and she was doing all the work. She didn't think she had the strength to complete the passage, but she did. Once we passed the first island, we gained a bit of relief from the wind and as we finally got closer to the harbor, the wind became a bit more controllable and the water began to flatten out. Then we saw the flash of lightening and heard the thunder too quick. Talk about motivation. She started powering like mad, while I stirred more tea in the stern.
She yelled back to me as the ferry passed that this was the 4th time we saw the hourly ferry cross. I said no it wasn't. She was correct, of course. Once landed and while unloading the ranger appeared to tell his side of the story. He said he was ready for the rescue as they have rescued 4 groups this year. He told me he got worried as I angled toward that first island as they can't get close to it because of the rocky shallows all around. I assured him I was just using the island to get some shelter and had no intention of getting too close in the shallows. Once the boat was unloaded and secure, I looked out at the passage and asked the ranger if it went flat. He said yes, the wind died down and it was perfectly flat now. I still say if we waited an hour it would have continued to build.
I also realize this is the only canoe I own that I would have attempted this. My royalex canoes would never have responded the way the w/c did and my choice will always be this canoe, no matter what the rails are made of.
