Not one of their high performance models, but it paddles nice and it was a good price. 16’ by 36", 79# and built in '95 by HIN#. It was one of Sawyer’s “Coke” canoes, all white except for four plate-sized Coca-Cola stickers on the ends. The fiberglass is not CSM, but a single layer of some heavy sort of woven-roving FG, weave pattern, not twill if that helps. Internet info on Sawyer canoes is pretty sparse. Can anybody identify this model for me? Thanks in advance for any help.
Jim
Yankee Rebel
Pretty sure those Coke canoes were Yankee Rebels
Yankee Rebel. Now, that makes no
sense whatsoever. Yankees were not the rebels.
If they used a lot of woven roving, it’s no wonder the canoes are so heavy.
I wouldn’t buy it.
Yeah, silly name.
All of the references I could find to Yankee Rebels were from pre-1980, all red, and made with chopped-strand-mat. Is it possible Sawyer updated the Rebel model for the 90s, made them in all white, and used woven FG? Or, could this be one of the Oscodas or the Sport 16? I couldn’t find stats other than Saywer made at least three 16 footers.
Anybody have one of these three models and want to post some stats?
Yankee Rebel from 1812, not 1861
Considering the proximity of the Straits to Oscoda, Mi it’s very likely Yankee Rebels were named after a Fur trader from the War of 1812. Maybe he was an ancestor…if so too bad they didn’t name one of their high-line boats after him.
“The Yankee Rebel Tavern was named after the patriot, Ambrose R. Davenport, who arrived on Mackinac Island as a military enlistee and later became a wealthy fur trader. While a prisoner of war during the War of 1812, Davenport refused allegiance to the British crown and simply, but proudly, declared, “I was born in America and am determined at all hazards, to live and die an American citizen.”
Having experienced the patriotism of the American revolution as a child, Ambrose Davenport attended school in Virginia with William Henry Harrison. Upon graduation he enlisted with the US Army and was assigned to Fort Mackinac here on the Island and was present for the American takeover from the British in 1796.
In the years that followed, Ambrose Davenport left the military and remained on the Island for the lucrative fur trading business. By 1812, the prominent Davenports had six children and faced the British Invasion of Mackinac Island. As the war of 1812 progressed, the Fort, its entire garrison, and many Islanders (including the Davenports) became Prisoners of War. British Captain Charles Roberts demanded all American captives swear allegiance to the crown, but Ambrose Davenport refused. Deported to Detroit, along with other prisoners, Davenport was placed on parole while his wife and family remained on Mackinac Island. Mrs. Davenport was constantly harassed and insulted by the British as they referred to her as “the wife of the Yankee Rebel”.
Following the recapture of Mackinac Island, Davenport returned home in 1815 and turned to farming since John Jacob Astor now dominated the fur business. He became a charter member of Mission Church in 1823. A veterans land grant for his farm was finally confirmed by Congress in 1830 and his deed signed by Andrew Jackson. Their farm was located in the area now known as Hubbard’s Annex.
Ambrose Davenport and his family weathered the failures and fortunes of farming and his homestead remains standing today as an old small house at the back of the property owned by the Chambers Family. At his death at the age of 87, in 1858, he left a large family that has dispersed throughout the United States.”
I did find a few Google images to Rebel canoes that do resemble the one in question. Thanks gents.
Jim
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