Disabled veteran inspired by visit some 20 years ago
Sweetgum – Most anyone that had projects going pre-COVID placed the plans on hold. George Poerner opted to press forward with his.
Motivated by a chance visit to New York more than two decades ago, the Irvington, N.J., native put the final touches on a 14-foot canoe last month, a job he began last year.
He opted to name it “Miss Riley,” after his 10-year-old great-granddaughter.
“If I had to really do it, I could’ve probably knocked it out in maybe two months,” Poerner said with a smile.
A former paratrooper – and later the owner of a five-star restaurant in Atlantic City – Poerner traveled to Valley Forge, N.Y., after retiring at age 62. While sightseeing at a local market, Poerner spotted a canoe hanging from the ceiling.
“I saw that said, ‘I gotta build one of them,’” Poerner recalled. “It took me almost 30 years, but I did it.”
Poerner began by building a mold for a 16-foot canoe, but opted to shave off 2 feet during pre-planning. He had ¼ inch-thick, red-cedar, tongue-and-groove shipped in from New Jersey and would place only two individual pieces on the frame each day. Staples hold the slats together, cross-pieces inside the canoe are sculpted from cherry and two seats inside are reinforced with tightly woven plastic.
The finished product boasts a low-gloss polyurethane on the inside and high-gloss on the outside. All told, Poerner estimates that the canoe only weighs around 35 pounds.
Believe it or not, work on the canoe has not finished. He has plans for expansion, as modifications to fit a sail have commenced.
“The rudder is all built, inside,” Poerner said. “I’m putting the finishing coats on it now. I’ve been debating about the sail; I don’t know whether to go out and buy one that’s already rigged, or build my own.”
Poerner plans on the maiden voyage taking place on Lake Santeetlah.