Building a Cedar Strip Canoe

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Finally, to Peter's great relief, it was time to get back to woodworking again and tackle the downright pleasurable job of...

ADDING THE BOAT'S TRIM

After screwing the two tiny ash decks in place, Peter shaped, resined, and clamped the spruce inwale and mahogany outwale in position. He permanently secured each two-part gunwale with 29 countersunk brass screws, then installed the boat's seats (which are hung below the canoe's inwales on ash dowels that have long brass bolts inside them) and thwarts. Webb then set all the crosspieces in the locations recommended by the Old Town guidebook . . . except for the center thwart, which he placed four inches back from midship to serve as a solo paddling rest. Peter found these straightforward trimming jobs all perfect delights, particularly since the addition of each beautiful rail, deck, thwart, and seat added to the looks—as well as to the strength—of the boat. With them all in place, the canoe was ready for final varnishing, drying, and—at last—the long-awaited moment of...

THE LAUNCH

Sleek, stable, and easy both to propel and to steer, the 65-pound cedar strip canoe showed—from its first moments on the water—that it was as graceful in function as in appearance. Anyone watching Mr. Webb paddle the boat—in tandem or solo—could see that as far as the woodworking canoeist was concerned, his 160 long hours of head scratching, measuring, stripping, sanding, and trimming (yes, and even fiberglassing) had been well worth the effort. (Incidentally, photographs of the initial launching of the craft were used in the article "Find Freedom in a Canoe", on page 74 of issue 75.)

CONCLUSIONS

There's no way we can say whether or not you'd want to build a cedar strip canoe yourself, but we can give you a few points that any would-be boatbuilder should consider. First off, if you don't enjoy working on extended projects, forget it. You must be able to find pleasure in the labor of creating a cedar strip craft to make the time and the attention to detail that it demands worthwhile. However, this doesn't mean you have to be a master woodworkerlike Mr. Webb—to complete the project. You should, of course, have some familiarity with the required tools . . . but patience, common sense, and the guidebooks' clear instructions can compensate for a lack of actual boatbuilding experience.

Remember, too, that'a cedar strip canoe is a cruising craft, not primarily for white water use. (Indeed, we find the mere thought of watching such a lovely and laboriously wrought canoe banging around among boulders, perhaps to splinter before our eyes, downright excruciating!)

The final factor to be considered is the price. The Old Town kit goes for $745 delivered, which—while it's less than half of what a premade stripper might cost—is quite a hefty chunk of money. However, it is possible, if you can hunt up a good source of the necessary woods, to make your own boat without a kit and save several hundred more dollars in the bargain (see the accompanying sidebar for the story of some folks who did just that). Either the Old Town or the Hazen guide will tell you most of what you need to know to set out on your own. Actually, we'd recommend that you buy both books: The photograph-packed step-by-step Old Town manual and the detailed option-filled Hazen guide complement each other quite well.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print