A.B. “Sandy” Lawrence III has handbuilt a “Little Bit” canoe for a fundraising raffle to benefit the Kinderwood Preschool Program at View, the new arts center in Old Forge.
Following is Mr. Lawrence’s personal account of the history of “Little Bit,” and how the raffle will benefit area preschoolers.
“Kinderwood is that very special place where so many of the young in the Old Forge area first learn to euphuistically ‘paddle their own canoe.'”
“I hope you will take a chance (or ten) on this little boat and do your little bit to help the next generation get a good start on this amazing journey called life,” he said.
The Little Bit by A.B. Lawrence III
The Little Bit is a five-foot version of the famous “Sairy Gamp” canoe built by J. Henry Rushton for the famous nineteenth century adventurist and writer George Washington
Sears, otherwise known as “Nessmuk.”
Rushton built a 10 ft. 6 in. “Featherweight” canoe that was offered in his catalog under the name “Nessmuk.”
That boat paid homage to the several lightweight boats that were built for Sears to use on his various adventures in the Adirondacks and Florida.
The hull design for the Little Bit was taken from the table of offsets found in the book “Rushton and his times in American Canoeing” by Atwood Manley and published for The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake.
“Mac” McCarthy, boat builder and author of “Featherweight Boat Building,” provided the scaled down forms and the boat was built using his strip built methods.
I had Mac scale down three different designs and I have built one of each for my grandchildren.
Many times when Mac would discuss the attributes of a particular boat he would conclude with a simple observation: keep it simple, keep it small and it will be used.
At first Mac was not very enthusiastic about my desire to build such a small boat because he didn’t think it would find its way to water.
He was, however, pleased to find that his maxim held true for these three boats are the most used of all our boats.
The joy of watching the next generation learn to paddle their own canoe is worth every scratch and ding, for those “pride marks” add to the patina of life.
When the last of the young are grown and have moved on to bigger boats and longer journeys it’s ok to display the boat in your home, let it hold your kindling, magazines or memories.
A wise man once said to his child: “To become a man you must first learn to paddle your own canoe!” Had he spoken to a daughter I am sure the same advice would have been offered.
Tickets for the Little Bit raffle are $10 each and are available for sale at View.
