Bill Whalen (dba: Old Curmudgeon Boatshop)

Bill built his first canoe in 1985, at which time he hadn't been in a canoe in over 20 years. He put together an 18 ft "Micmac" model stripper from Hazen's "Strippers Guide to Boatbuilding."

The moniker of Old Curmudgeon was come by honestly. Through much effort, including cigar chomping, beer drinking, studied deprecation of the habits of others, and generaly being very ornery, Bill and certain understudies (who shall go un-named) have come near to perfecting the art of wasting time under the guise of paddling and building and repairing boats (Photo: A few old curmudgeons with a few old canoes).

Trips and Touring

Bill and his son Ted have been on many "excellent adventures." They have taken the stripper to Isle Royale for nine days, hiked some of the Appalachian Trail, canoed the AuSable River in Michigan for a week, and sea-kayaked for a week through the 30,000 Island Park in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron (Photo left: Ted acknowledging commands with his best "Benny Hill" salute! (Photo right: Bill at the Bent Spike campsite on Lower St Regis in the Adirondacks.).

Their excellent adventure to Georgian Bay is also documented here.

Be sure to read about Three Men in a Swamp -- Okefenokee 1996 which was published in the WCHA journal WOODEN CANOE.

Heres another WOODEN CANOE article he wrote on a sailing trip down the Outer Banks .

Canoe cruising on rivers is a subject of the Canoe Camping website. Bill is a contributor to the river reviews found there.

Take Bill's virtual tour of North American Canoe Clubs, past and present.

Bill has a "work in progress" -- a bibliography on the subject of North American river journeys.

Organizations

Bill was a founding member of the Ohio River Valley Chapter of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association. This group is interested in restoring wooden canoes.

Bill is a member of the American Canoe Association and is a qualified canoeing and kayaking instructor.

Bill is proud to be in the brotherhood of submariners (that's pronounced "submareeners").

Building and Restoration

Rowing boats and sculls:
Bill has done some major and a lot of minor repairs on University of Dayton and Greater Dayton Rowing Association boats. While most of these repairs have involved wood boats, Bill does have experience with composite boats.

Bill and Ted share their excellent kayak building adventure.

Bill detailed plans for building a Six Hour Wouldn't Canvas Canoe in the WCHA journal.

Bill's boats:

1917 17ft Old Town Ideal -- restored 1997. Rigged for sail in 1999.
1910's Rushton Indian Girl 17ft .
14ft Old Curmudgeon "Saranac Laker" Adirondack Guideboat (strip built) -- first of two guideboats built in 1990.
Two 18.5ft Old Curmudgeon Cape Charles kayaks -- built in 1990.
Blackhawk Shadow 15.8ft -- composite cruising canoe.
(bold print = currently in inventory)

Bill is a submarine vet. Follow this link to the USSVI-SubVets Organization

Send Bill email here.

Navigation Aids

[WCHA Home Page]
[Bill's submarine days]