"Do you suppose bears like epoxy?" retired teacher Vernon Shaw wondered aloud as he and three companions brushed epoxy on ash strips destined to become gunwales for a new Maine river-driving batteau—"there are a lot of bears around here." So far, though, no bears had come forth to chew on either epoxy or men building the batteau at the Maine Forest and Logging Museum at Leonard's Mills in Bradley. The four men were building the batteau (which is how the word is spelled in these parts) to replace a predecessor that was on its last legs after many years of providing rides to museum visitors. The plans were adapted from specifications in The Dory Book (Mystic Seaport, 1987), by John Gardner, who wrote that the fast, maneuverable river-driving batteau, "as perfected on the Penobscot River one hundred years ago, represents the ultimate refinement of the river-type dory."
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