Orca Canoes & Kayaks Ltd.

Location :

• Anynomous

  24 September 2023

  After a great trip abroad, we are back and open for business. Web store now fully functional. Now planning for display at the Van. Wooden Boat festival.

• Anynomous

  24 August 2023

  Online store will close tomorrow until the end of July.

• Anynomous

  11 August 2023

  Orca Boats will be closed for the month of July. The online store will also be closed as no one here to fill any orders. So if you are looking to purchase anything or get your boat in for any quick maintenance, now is the time to do it, or wait until August.

• Anynomous

  23 July 2023

  And here is the #StLawrenceriverskiff with a few coats of varnish on. I will get 4 coats of Rapid Clear on and then lightly sand for the high gloss top coats.

• Anynomous

  22 July 2023

  Oh, we are getting close to adding some high gloss shine to the #StLawrenceriverskiff. Floor boards are in, oar lock blocks and coaming added as well. One final sand and out comes the varnish.

• Anynomous

  14 July 2023

  Installing thwarts today in the #StLawrenceriverskiff.

• Anynomous

  09 July 2023

  Launched my new web site. All the info on kits, plans and custom built boats all in once place with links to all my YouTube videos, etc. Check it out and tell me what you think. www.orcaboats.ca

• Anynomous

  30 June 2023

  Finally all the frames are bent into the St. Lawrence skiff. This took a lot longer than anticipated. As I was pushing frames into the hull, planking was cracking along areas that had a lot of extra nail and screw holes. So out came some of the ribs to fix the planking. I am looking forward to moving on to installing some trim, decks, floorboards and more as all these pieces have been waiting patiently on the lumber racks for their chance to make the boat shine.

• Anynomous

  22 June 2023

  With the paint in the hull of the #StLawrenceriverboat, more ribs are steamed and ready for install.

• Anynomous

  01 June 2023

  After removing the rib from the inside, the nails can be pushed through to the outside and simply pulled out.

• Anynomous

  01 June 2023

  Removing ribs in an old wooden skiff

• Anynomous

  24 May 2023

  The big task of replacing all the ribs in the St. Lawrence river skiff begins. Plan is to take out every 3rd or 4th rib, paint strip the area, then sand and fill any bad patches. Then the new rib is steam bent in place, copper clench nailed and then move on to the next set. These ribs in the ends are a bit of work to bend with a few ending up in breakage. Getting the timing on the amount of steam took a few trials, but it seems around 12 minutes to soaked stock (3/8" by 5/8") works well, any more and they come apart, any less and they just won't bend. This will likely take a week or so, before I can begin work on replacing a few bad planks. I plan to get a bit of video in the next day or so as things progress.

• Anynomous

  07 April 2023

  Next project to arrive in the shop. A lovely Greenwood canvas canoe. However whoever did the last canvas job felt it was appropriate to use steel construction screws on the gunwales.

• Anynomous

  03 April 2023

  This 100 yr. old St. Lawrence river skiff arrived in the shop today. Owned by the same family since it was built, the current family member would like to see it back in the water for his grandmothers 80 birthday later this year. It is going to take some work, but there is lots of info on the net and he also provided a set of plans from Mystic seaport called "Clotilde" which will help in the reconstruction. Follow along as I work on this piece of history.

• Anynomous

  03 April 2023

  The restoration of a St Lawrence river skiff from start to finish