Antique Wooden St.lawrence Skiff / Canoe / Guideboat, Ready To Use!

Saraswati was built sometime prior to 1929 by the St.Lawrence River Skiff, Canoe & Steam Launch Company in Clayton, New York (Thousand Islands region). The name was on the boat when found, and is the name of the Hindu River Goddess of art, music and knowledge. It’s unclear what the logo design represents, but it’s possible the boat was from a fleet at a resort or great camp to which that logo belonged. This model appears to be an unusual hybrid of canoe, St.Lawrence Skiff and Adirondack Guideboat designs. It can be paddled as a canoe, or rowed like a skiff.

The boat is mostly strip planked in Cedar over Ash frames and keel, with Walnut trim and Spruce natural crook stems. The planking is fastened to the frames with copper clenched tacks, and the planks are edge nailed to each other with iron brads (hence the occasional black staining). The hull is still stiff, fair and solid. The boat is nearly all original, only a few small repairs and a complete refinishing were necessary to put it back into service. As it was found in a barn, the boat had been liberally coated in shellac (which of course turned rough and black) and had been hung from the rafters for at least 50 years.

The boat was stripped, repaired, treated thoroughly with penetrating epoxy (all wood is very solid now), and properly varnished. The name and logo were painted back on freehand. Some hardware had to be faithfully recreated to replace missing or broken originals. Care was taken to leave as much original material as possible. All the work was done by myself, a professional shipwright with 10 years in the field.The boat comes with a variety of original accessories that it was found with; a canvas covered cork life ring and two paddles with matching logo, a pair of Spaulding oars (Spaulding sporting goods purchased this company shortly after this boat was made), and a period correct brass bilge pump.

She is 16' long, 33" beam, and around 75lbs. Feel free to ask any questions, or ask for specific pictures. I can show the boat in person too if you are in the area (Jamesport, NY). Buyer must come pick the boat up (I could meet you with a certain range), or arrange transport yourself.