A Greenwood with an Attitude

When a canoe first arrives in the shop, our process begins with a thorough inspection—looking closely for soft stems, cracked ribs, damaged planking, and any other signs of hidden trouble. I do my best to catch everything at this stage, but wooden canoes sometimes hold secrets beneath their canvas.

This Greenwood was one of those canoes.

New ribs installed in the Greenwood

At first glance, the project looked straightforward—no broken ribs, just a bit of planking, some stem and deck work, and a good clean-up. But as we removed the canvas and started working, this old beauty began to reveal its history. And it turns out, it’s lived through more than a few adventures.

In the end, I replaced five ribs and five half ribs, repaired both stems and the decks, and installed over 35 feet of new planking. It was ready for canvas and final finishing touches.

Pulling a stem piece from the steam box

Clamping the steamed wood into the stem form so it will dry in the correct shape

But the canoe wasn’t done with me yet.

While staining the interior, something unexpected happened. The stain settled into fine hairline cracks and revealed three more broken ribs—previously invisible, now clearly outlined like old scars brought to the surface. In all my years restoring canoes, I’ve never had the wood reveal itself this way.

A coat of custom mixed stain helps the new ribs blend in with the old

Fine hairline cracks in 3 ribs were exposed by the stain

So the Greenwood will stay with us just a little longer while we tend to these final surprises.

She's come a long way already—and she’ll be ready for the water soon (as long as she's done surprising me!).