Tipped Canoe Turns Profit For Two Capsizing Enables Builders To Look At Boats From Different Perspective

Two Spokane-area craftsmen were brought together by rapid disaster.

King Evers, who builds Northwoods Canoes in Spokane, sold a boat to Kent Schluter, a house builder from Valleyford. The relationship might have ended with the exchange of money, but Kent destroyed the canoe while floating the Upper Coeur d’Alene River during spring runoff.

“I’m not sure my wife will ever go canoeing with me again, but it certainly was a memorable experience,” Schluter said.

The Schluters suffered little more than bruised egos when they capsized in the torrent. The canoe, however, was plastered against a logjam. The force of the water snapped the fiberglass boat in half.

“I took the pieces to King’s shop and asked if he could repair it,” Schluter said. “But he just chuckled and said, ‘This one’s a goner.”’

Later, Schluter was at the Moose Lake Company store in Seattle (before one opened in downtown Spokane) and noticed a cedar strip canoe that had been fashioned into a cabinet.

“The possibilities dawned on me,” he said. “I called King and told him not to throw away my boat. I picked it up and made it into furniture for my wife. The pieces are full of memories, although I’m still not sure whether she appreciates them.”

Word of the craftsman’s work spread to friends. Next thing he knew, he was getting requests to build canoe furniture from as far away as California.

So he started a business.

“I haven’t stopped building houses yet,” he said. “But there seems to be a lot of interest among people who want to keep an old boat for nostalgia. I can take any kind of small boat - wood, fiberglass, Kevlar, even aluminum - and use oak or mahogany to turn it into cabinets, entertainment centers and tables, using paddles as the legs. Someday I’d like to do it with a drift boat.”

But most paddlers haven’t had the memorable experience of trashing a canoe. So Schluter went back again to Evers, one of Spokane’s obscure craftsmen of outdoor products.

They struck a deal to get beautifully finished Northwoods fiberglass hulls designed especially for making into furniture.

“They come out of the same mold as the canoes we make for paddling except that we don’t add the reinforcement and flotation, which just costs more money and takes up space you might prefer to fill with speakers or a wine rack,” Evers said.

There’s a chance Northwoods could get more exposure through furniture than it has through canoeing.

“I build a great boat, but I’m lousy at marketing,” Evers said.

Evers, 51, has been building Northwoods Canoes since 1981. Although he makes a few special-order “war canoes” up to 36 feet long, most of the nearly 300 boats produced each year from his shop on east Francis Avenue are 16- or 17-foot shallow V fiberglass recreational canoes.

“These aren’t specialized whitewater boats,” he said. “They’re for families who want a well-built boat at a decent price.”

Evers got his start selling through Wheelsport bicycle shop in Spokane. Curiously, his retail outlets dried up in Spokane while markets in Seattle, Portland and Canada expanded.

“The funny thing is that local people can buy canoes direct from us for a substantial discount, but not too many people do,” he said.

No wonder. Northwoods Canoes isn’t listed in the business section of the phone book, nor is there a listing for the company under “canoes” in the yellow pages.

To find the listing for Northwoods Composite Products Inc., one must turn to the yellow pages under “Fiber Glass.”

“That’s kind of a big mistake,” Evers acknowledged.

These details of marketing may be moot now that Recreational Equipment Inc. has decided to sell Northwoods through its national chain, including here in Spokane. “But I don’t know whether we’ll be able to sell retail through the shop here after January,” he said.

Northwoods has improved its original design, Evers said. “The layup is improved, we’ve added a composite core for stiffening and dropped some weight.”

Making hulls for furniture is a breeze after 16 years of experience in making them for paddling.

But Schluter knows the new boats have their limitations.

“The furniture looks good with a new hull that’s shiny, bright and pretty,” Schluter said. “But they don’t have the same character as the old ones that have been through the mill. At least, they don’t get the same reaction from your wife.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 photos (1 color)