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SPRING 2006 CanewS PAGE 7Perssonal Reflections on the Collectionby Dick PerssonA treasure – hidden in plain sight!In the museum’s exhibit “It wasn’t all work”the hull of the decked sailing canoe Widgeonhas been exhibited for many years. I have toadmit I have not given this canoe muchthought or study before. However, I recentlyhad reason to take a closer look at the craftand its provenance. I realized that there is astory hidden here that ought to be told. Athorough search of the museum’s storageturned up the parts which were believedlost; the sliding seat, masts, the modifiedNorwegian tiller system, the cockpitsplashguard, the rudder and the centreboard. Unfortunately, Widgeon came tothe museum collection without the sailrigs.It is believed that this canoe was builtby the Wm. English Canoe Co. in partbecause it is known that the WmEnglish built many of the MacKendrickfamily’s canoes. Additionally, there areno builder’s marks on it that I have foundto date. However, this canoe has anumber of construction details which point tothe N. Gilbert Boat Building Co. in Gananoque,Ontario.Nelson Gilbert’s first decked sailing canoeof note was C.E. Archibald’s Mab (shown).Her construction was well documented inseveral articles in the 1890’s. Many more ofthe same design were built over the next 20years.It is most likely, that Widgeon is a sister ofthis successful racing canoe. Future research,smart-scan and a comparison ofWidgeon’s lines to those of other Gilbert builtdecked sailing canoes will tell us more aboutexactly what we have. It is my hope that thisexciting canoe exhibit could be expanded toinclude the additional artifacts which weredonated along with the canoe. The exhibitmight also include the story of itsowners, the famousMacKendrick family.The canoe is whatis known as a 16-30 decked sailingcanoe and wasdonatedby Ms. N. MacKendrick in 1980. Researchindicates that the donor’s father wasJ. N. MacKendrick, one of the threeMacKendrick brothers,John, Will and Harry,competitive canoeistswith a long list ofchampionships to theirnames. They competedfor The Toronto CanoeClub and were early oninvolved with the AmericanCanoe Associationas well as holdingvarious board positionsand executive offices.What is a 16-30 decked sailing canoeTo understand just what a decked sailingcanoe is, one must go back to late 1880’sand early 1890’s and a man named PaulButler. Prior to Butler’s time, sailing canoesactually looked much like everyday cruisingcanoes, about 15 to 16 feet long, halfdecked,and with modest sailing rigs. Inthose early days the canoes had no selfdraining cockpit; it was often unmanageableafter an upset and carried only about sixtysquare feet of sail, with the sailor sitting onthe cockpit edge. Butler, to overcome thedisadvantage of his scant 110-poundweight, devised first the sliding seat to givethat weight greater leverage, the crossheadtiller so he could steer while out on the endof his sliding seat, next the automatic cleatto tend his sheets until he came inboardsand a self-bailing shallow cockpit to keepthe seas out of her.The effects of these inventions beganto be felt from about 1890. At thattime there was practically no limit toany element of the decked sailingcanoe with the exception of lengthand beam. The standard sizes were16 feet overall length and 30 inchesextreme beam; hence the class name16-30. Normally, two sails were carriedwith a total area of about 130 square feetbut in some cases up to around 180 squarefeet were tried.Since that time, rigs have changed andrules have been rewritten, but to this day,Paul Butler’s four innovations; the hikingseat, the crossheadtiller, the automatic cleatand the self bailingcockpit are the distinguishingfeatures of thedecked sailing canoe.I am told that noother type of boat offerssuch thrilling and enjoyablesailing! Imagine -flying at 12 knots, suspendeda foot abovethe waves, four or fivefeet out from your boat on the hiking seatand watching her leap through the seas -keen pleasure indeed!Thank you to D. Miller, J. Summers, andR. MacGregor for contributing information.Other sources quoted; “Canoeing Under Sail”by M.D. Wilt and “Champion Canoes of Today”by R.B. Burchard.