by Grant Nelson
Mike’s Canoe
I have spent so much time exploring my own imagination, all that I ever needed was a starting point. Often, that starting point was “Popular Mechanics” or a similar magazine. I would go to the back of the magazines and search the classifieds for construction plans, especially project designs for airplanes and boats. I never built either a plane or a boat, but one such creation stepped from the camouflage of time to remind me of someone who did construct his dream.
I mentioned my sister and her husband recently drove up from North Carolina for a visit. Deb and Mike lived a life of relative adventure back in the 70s and that adventure was sustained by Mike’s amazing skills. He buiIt with great attention to detail. I forgot that Mike was a renaissance man until Lisa and I had supper with their son Reed and his friend Jenna. Reed’s description of his projects brought to light skills reminiscent of his dad’s abilities. The rush of nostalgia energized a long-forgotten memory - Mike’s canoe.
I first saw the canoe just under a half-century ago. Mike and Deb lived near Newfolden, so we often visited them. I thought their place was so cool as Mike’s basement was full of things I had seen in my magazines: black powder muzzleloaders, ammunition reloading equipment, and recurve bows. One night we went out to their garage and a project sitting on sawhorses caught my attention.
Mike showed my Dad and I the canoe and explained the building process. I had only seen dugout canoes on television, so I was surprised at the tiny strips of wood which had been bent and formed around a wooden jig. Mike then used small nails to hold the pieces in place. These nails were removed as Mike laminated fiberglass cloth to the wood strips with resin.
All of these pieces had to be carefully formed to eliminate gaps which would make the canoe weaker. It was meticulous work that required patience. It seemed to me to be a frustrating construction technique as patience is not always my strength. It was a project of accumulated strength where each piece needed to agree with the next one in order to create something that would endure, and float.
Mike told me that he started the project in 1978 at home then finished it in an adult extension class. It took time as Mike was not really a boat builder until he had built a boat, and this was his first.
I saw the canoe a few months ago as it is still stored locally. Mike builds for aesthetics but also for durability. That canoe was used for duck hunting in rugged conditions and was really no worse for wear. Time had given it character and patina, but it had not diminished its durability or usefulness.
I want to be relevant as I age, this means I want to be creative and do things that give people joy. I think Mike’s project reveals one element of continued relevance as we age, it is to do quality work. We should make sure each piece of our life agrees with the next and that we take our time to create something worthy of the time invested.
That’s what Mike’s canoe is, a lesson in quality, in patience and relevance.
