In 1984, my wife and I decided to leave Toronto and move to our cottage to seek our fortunes in the wilds of the Kawarthas. I had always loved canoes and now there was a "do it yourself" book on the market entitled Canoecraft written by Ted Moores. So that fall, we transformed our garage into a cool, dimly lit workshop. I had been introduced to the world of canoe building and I was smitten.
   Quickly, I realized the need for a "real" workshop, so my wife and I embarked on a project that would launch us into our own business. Waussnodae Canoes was born in the wilds of the Kawarthas in 1985. It has been quite a journey.

    I wanted to install steam-bent butternut decks on my first canoe so I approached a local builder in Lakefield. It was Walter Walker who kindly provided me with these decks and it was during this visit that I fell in love with the CEDAR PLANK canoe, which he was building. I was fortunate to begin working with Walter building and repairing.
  That spring, Linda and I took it upon ourselves to erect a heated, 24X30-foot workshop. We equipped it with all the necessary machinery, hand tools and supplies. Then came the huge task of building a mold. I lofted the lines from an original Thomas Gordon 4 Flat mold produced by the Lakefield Canoe Company in the late 1800’s.

    I also had to design and build presses for steam-bending gunwales, decks and stems, not to mention a steam box.

   The finished product is a 16 foot long canoe with a 32-inch beam, 12-inch depth and a moderate tumblehome. The construction is all wood with brass and copper fasteners. The planking is made from full length British Columbia red cedar while the keel, keelson, ribs, inside/outside stems and gunwales are made from local red oak. The decks are still made from local butternut while the thwart, coamings, and deck caps are made from black cherry. Seats are hand caned, cherry or oak. I apply several coats of oil-based spar varnish as a finish.
   The Gordon 4-Flat is a pleasure canoe, often seen in the regattas on Stoney Lake. Its weight is approximately seventy pounds. In the spring of ’86, Walter and I took the first Waussnodae Canoe off the mold. My wife and I still paddle it around the Lake.