An ideal all-round canoe. The Chestnut Canoe Company first built the "workhorse of the North" to meet the specific needs of the prospector—good maneuverability through whitewater and wilderness with the capacity to carry substantial loads.  It features a flattened, shallow-arch hull, with its fullness carried into the bow and stern, good depth amidships to maintain freeboard and deepened ends to keep paddlers and gear dry.

Our version of the Prospector is cedarstrip with mahogany trim.  For extra strength and durabilty the canoe is sheathed in fiberglass and then saturated with West System epoxy

to produce a strong, clear coat to highlight the natural beauty of the woods.

The arrival of the bride in our Prospector

Additional Specs:

LOA:  11' 6"

Beam:  28 "

Weight: 25 pounds

Price:  $1400

The original Wee Lassie, an undecked double-paddle canoe, was created in the late 1800s in upper New York state by a canoe builder named J. Henry Rushton.  Most of the double-paddle canoes in Rushton's era were like the present day kayak:  they had full decks but were wide in beam for more stability.  The Wee Lassie differed from its contemporaries by being open — that is, undecked — thus saving a lot of weight.

Its light weight and small size make the Wee Lassie a solo boat that is a dream to handle.  Its V-shaped asymetrical hull allows for better tracking and performance in shallow water.  Furthermore, a canoe propelled by a double-bladed paddle is easy to take upstream in shallow water.  The experience is like rowing, but you are facing forward.  A regular paddle requires two feet of water below to be paddled properly.  The double paddle works well in six inches, which is quite a difference.

This particular canoe was comissioned by the Mahone Bay Classic Boat Festival for their grand raffle prize in 2006.