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BIrch Bark Canoes

Suzanne AuClair

 

 

This year, it will be the summer of the birch bark canoe. For anyone interested, you might want to take a ride up, camp out, do some fishing, hang out for a few days in God’s country. On Wednesday and Thursday, July 23-24, the owners of birch bark canoes from around Maine, and some from Canada, will be gathering here on Moosehead Lake.

Last year, I spent a good bit of time preparing my old wood and canvas canoe for repairs, first stripping, sanding, and varnishing the interior of it. Then, once it was repaired, finishing it with three coats of paint, painstakingly fine sanded and wiped down with tack cloth in between each coat. Master Builder Jerry Stelmok did the repair work, replacing some rotted planks, a couple of broken ribs, the gunwales. I assisted him wherever I could, nailing tacks, rubbing the special filling compound he makes into the new canvas that he stretched into place over the hull. It was a labor of love, and I learned a whole lot by watching, listening, and doing besides. It is my go-to canoe, a 15-footer, built for these waters.

BIrch Bark

This year, it will be the summer of the birch bark canoe. For anyone interested, you might want to take a ride up, camp out, do some fishing, hang out for a few days in God’s country. On Wednesday and Thursday, July 23-24, the owners of birch bark canoes from around Maine, and some from Canada, will be gathering here on Moosehead Lake. Master Birch Bark Canoe Builder Steve Cayard will be overseeing this flotilla of birch bark canoes. The afternoon of Day 1 is spent preparing for the float, inspecting the canoes, applying a special mixture of sap where needed, hobnobbing with like-minded craftsmen.

The action takes place in West Cove, at the Greenville Junction Wharf. Access is super easy, with a flat, large open lawn, two boat landings, and a parking lot, so anyone can get there. Owners of birch bark canoes register through Steve. But anyone with an interest in this traditional canoe form can just show up and soak up what it’s all about. This gathering of the canoes is all part of the annual Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail Festival that takes place here every July.

Before I began overseeing the fest, I had never paddled a birch bark canoe. Still old school, we always used the wood canvas canoes my husband built. Then on some trips with Penobscot guides, I had the chance to get into a birch bark. At first I was afraid it was going split or that I wasn’t going to be able to paddle it because they sit and control differently than a wood canvas.

Wood Canvas

The wood canvas canoes are heavy, and sturdy. We took our 20-footer, made wider than is typical to suit Moosehead waters, and could pack it heavy, for extended trips on the West Branch. We loaded two large boxes, built to fit snugly in the center of the canoe. One box was for all manner of camp kitchen utensils, and one for food. Then we packed and lashed the rest of our gear up and around it. It was piled high! We packed for comfort. But on the water, these canoes are dandy, draw little water, sitting well and high, even loaded down.

The birch bark canoe is altogether different. It is sturdier than you think. And, on the water, they sit light as a feather. They also are much easier to carry. They can turn on a dime. Where and how you sit, paddle, and maneuver in the water are not the same. I am no expert, in either type of canoe. But every time I go out, I learn something new. The birch bark is also meant to travel light, so would not be loaded down like we did our canvas crate. Unlike a birch bark, we also made darn sure we didn’t have to portage it far.

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing a birch bark canoe being built, under the tutelage of Steve Cayard. Steve, who is self-taught, with many decades of experience behind him now, is one of the rare people who really understands this form. He spends a lot of time now passing on that knowledge. So if you get the chance to come up, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll be seeing the best of the best, doing what he does best.

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