Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Canoe, Sailing |
Date |
1880-1883 |
Artist |
Rushton, John Henry, 1843-1906 |
Maker |
Rushton, John Henry |
Subjects |
boats and boating canoes Long Lake Raquette Lake |
Material |
Wood |
Used |
Long Lake and Raquette Lake |
Description |
Open sailing canoe with floorboards and Radix centerboard. Cedar planking, varnished inside and out. Two sets of seat cleats. No seats. Mast holes in both decks but no sailing hardware or rig. L: 13' 1" B: 31" Wt: 57 lbs Built by J.H. Rushton, Canton, 1883 When Arpad Gerster ordered this boat from J.H. Rushton, the sailing canoes popular with most canoeists had much longer decks, leaving only a five- or six-foot-long cockpit in which the skipper sat. An open boat like this one was lighter. This one has copper flotation tanks fore and aft which helped offset the dangers of swamping. It was paddled with a double-bladed paddle and had two "modified Bailey" sails, a type of gaff rig popular with canoeists. The centerboard may be a later addition to the boat, since open sailing canoes were offered in the Rushton catalogs by 1877, but folding centerboards weren't available until 1882. This boat would have been classified by the American Canoe Association as a "paddleable sailing canoe." The tumblehome sides make it easier to paddle. It originally had two mahogany plank seats for two paddlers both of whom used double-bladed paddles. Gerster sailed and paddled it on trips away from his camp on Raquette Lake until one day a guide, "young, strong and brainless, started to pull water-filled canoe ashore and impact of water tore off planking from stern piece." The boat was repaired, but shortly thereafter Gerster acquired a similar boat in good condition; see 62.67.66. |
Notes |
13' 1" x 31", 57lbs. |
Dimensions |
W-2.583 L-13.083 feet |
Collection |
BBB140A |
People |
Gerster, Arpad Geyza |
Search Terms |
boats and boating canoes Long Lake Raquette Lake |
Catalog Number |
1956.061.0004 |
Other number |
AM 2566, cat. 57 |
Imagefile |
051\1956.061.0004 COLOR.JPG |
Species |
Canoe, Sailing |
Owned by |
Gester, Arpad, and Gerster, John C. A. |
Credit line |
Gift of Dr. John C.A. Gerster |