The Speedster is one of eight different boat models built by the Peterborough Canoe Company in the Streamliner class of boats. The Streamliner class included the Zephyr-No.1836; Lakeside-No.1837; Speedster-No.1838; Aqua Flyer-No.1840; Handy Boy-No.1841; Frontenac-No.1854; Admiral-No.1855; and Montcalm-No. 1856.

Eye appealing – seaworthy – practical and dependable is a most suitable description of these Peterborough Streamliners designed and constructed for a wide variety of uses. Lengthy bow deck, comfortable cross seats with removable back rests and rear side seats so positioned to permit gas tank or battery storage at stern of boat out of the way, make these streamliners the ideal boat for general family pleasure boating yet suitable for the ardent fisherman. The Zephyr, the Lakeside, and the Speedster are designed, built and recommended for small and medium motors and carrying capacity of 5 to 6 persons. Streamliner Specifications Peterborough streamliners are built by the longitudinal strip construction using West Coast cedar, in full length strips, selected and matched for colouring. The hull is of round bottom semi-displacement designed to permit planning with proper power yet giving smooth economical performance when fully loaded. All streamliners are built for standard 15 inch shaft motors, except Frontenac, Admiral & Montcalm which are built for 20 inch shafts. A long bow deck, two cross seats and two side seats. The finish is varnished natural colour throughout inside, decks and outside. Deluxe finish – consisting of red bottom outside, with bow deck, additional side decks, seat backs and transom of attractive mahogany richly coloured and varnished – is optional on streamliners at slight additional cost. Standard Equipment on streamliners includes Peterborough chromed bow plate, full length splash rails, floorboards, removable rack type seat backs for the cross seats, and reinforcements as specified for each model. Speedster-No.1838: Length 16’, beam 55”, depth 24”, transom width 48”, x 1 1/8” thick. Carrying capacity 6 persons – recommended for motors up to 18 h.p. for speeds up to 22 mph. - Planking is 5/16” thick. – Weight 275 lbs. bow deck 5 ft., oak keel and two long outside bilge strips. Family history of the speedster Marcine’s grandfather, Floyd Allen High, bought a cabin on Rock Lake, ON (just north of Bruce Mines, ON) from an ad he saw in Popular Mechanics, right after the Second World War for the sum of $300 dollars. On September 1, 1948 he bought the Peterborough Speedster from Greenwood Electric and Hardware of Sault Ste. Marie, ON. The price of the boat was $275.00. Freight cost $8.00 to ship it from Peterborough to Sault Saint Marie. Greenwood charged $10.00 to deliver the boat to Rock Lake (Plummer was the Post Office). Total cost of the boat was $293.00. Grandpa High used the boat for fishing and had a red Johnson 5 hp motor on the boat. Marcine remembers as a child spending a lot of time up under the deck with her drawing books or napping or just staying out of the weather while the grandparents fished by trolling or still fishing. The boat was well maintained. It always had a tarp covering the boat when it was not in use. When it was used the tarp always covered the deck with the rest stuffed up under the deck. It was some time in the late 50’s when grandpa put a steering wheel and motor control on the boat. He would start the motor in neutral, climb forward and drive the boat from the front. The family never found out what happened but one day after he and grandma returned from fishing he never used the steering wheel and motor controls again. It should be noted that Marcine caught the first rainbow trout ever taken out of Rock Lake while fishing from the Speedster. Grandpa and grandma High had three children, Allen, Lorraine (Marcine’s mom), and Marian. When they passed away the three children received the following; Allen got the cottage (which had cost about $300), Lorraine got the Speedster (which cost about $300) but not the motor, and Marian got a piece of water front property that they had also paid about $300 for. Looked good on paper but some how the value is not the same now. Lorraine is thankful that she has not had to pay property tax on her inheritance. Lorraine and her husband Bob used the boat for fishing until they got the 18 hp Evenrude in 1961. The motor had been used for training purposes at an engine repair shop so it had been taken apart many times by students but not run very much. They put it on the Speedster, which was used to pull the kids on water skies, and got a used aluminum boat for fishing. Last year, 2009, Lorraine said she wanted her daughter Marcine and husband, Bob to have the Speedster as it had not had been in the water for many years, and it was just in the way sitting in the garage. So in the fall of 2009, Bob, a friend and cottage neighbour of Gord Griffin, contacted John to see if he would refinish the Speedster to her once glorious state!