Whatzit?
- Thread starter Dave Wermuth
- Start date
Mark Adams
all wood nut
Potentially beautiful!
Bookcase? Flower planter?
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
Canoodling tool...
OP
OP
Dave Wermuth
Who hid my paddle?
It's a Belle Isle Morris Courting canoe and it looks to be almost original. I am trying to help it be mine. The center thwart is missing. No tag seen yet. It is wired for lights and has a rear flag socket. Kathy says around 1905. Bilge keels and rub rail.
How long are the decks?
Can you check the deck length?
We found a Morris that I think is that vintage that was found in a field near Parma in the late 40s and glassed shortly after. The way the previous owner revised the decks had me believe they were completely redone to meet the gunnel rot. Now I'm not so sure. The canoe appears to have the same curve and flatter deck of the Belle Isle canoe in your photo. The gunnel appears to be original up to and including the first 2 inches of the curved section closer to the center of the canoe. The decks on our Morris would have been 32-33 inches.
We think the vintage is 1905 to 1910 because it has 3 cant ribs and no nail holes in the stems for a serial number plate. We have the canoe stripped of fiberglass and I cannot find any holes for the rub rail. We are still in contact with the wife of the person who "saved the canoe" We will see if we can find more photos from her.
This is the canoe pictured in the "Is this a Morris Thread"
Can you check the deck length?
We found a Morris that I think is that vintage that was found in a field near Parma in the late 40s and glassed shortly after. The way the previous owner revised the decks had me believe they were completely redone to meet the gunnel rot. Now I'm not so sure. The canoe appears to have the same curve and flatter deck of the Belle Isle canoe in your photo. The gunnel appears to be original up to and including the first 2 inches of the curved section closer to the center of the canoe. The decks on our Morris would have been 32-33 inches.
We think the vintage is 1905 to 1910 because it has 3 cant ribs and no nail holes in the stems for a serial number plate. We have the canoe stripped of fiberglass and I cannot find any holes for the rub rail. We are still in contact with the wife of the person who "saved the canoe" We will see if we can find more photos from her.
This is the canoe pictured in the "Is this a Morris Thread"
OP
OP
Dave Wermuth
Who hid my paddle?
The bow deck is 36" and the stern deck-24". Also, the ribs seem to taper into the inwale as opposed to being pocketed. I did not measure width. The keel screw washers look like something I've never seen before and the screws, all the same for keel and bilge keels, are round head. If you look closely, you may see the washer/screw. See attached.
Attachments
Thanks Dave! Still don't know what I have other than it's a Morris. The keel screws are standard brass wood screws, but they may have been replaced when the keel was removed to glass the canoe. I think the canoe was originally with the 32 inch decks by the deck/gunnel connection.
Fred
Fred
It appears that similar Belle Isle style canoes were made by several different manufacturers. The Old Town shown at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?4175 has a 36 inch bow deck and a 24 inch stern deck. The Carleton record at http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=5633&d=1218123990 has the asymmetric decks and rub rails. Nice find,
Benson
Benson
Kathryn Klos
squirrel whisperer
The Belle Isle version of the Morris was traditionally 18 feet long-- and I think yours, Gasping, is 16-- right? Yours was probably ordered by a customer to have those 32-inch decks you suspect were there. The Belle Isle is also a "special order"-- devised by Charles Molitor for his fleet of rental canoes. He specified the 36/24 decks and other things... and perhaps no two of his canoes are exactly the same... or there are variances from order-to-order, over the years. After the Morris factory fire, when Old Town made canoes for Molitor's livery, he even switched to open gunwale canoes after his initial order from them. WE put the label "Belle Isle" on this type of Morris canoe, come to think of it! Around the factory, they may have been known as "the Molitor"! 
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