Craft a Coracle

(Page 3 of 3)

April/May 2003
By Stanley Joseph 
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With the frame on sawhorses and using a heavyweight No. 10 sail maker's canvas, stretch the canvas over the frame and temporarily attach it with metal clamps. Then trim off excess material and roll the edges up to the willow gunwale. After adjusting the clamps to get the canvas folds evenly spaced, stitch the canvas to the gunwale using waxed linen thread, triangle-shaped sail maker's needles and sail maker's sewing palm. I find I often have to use a pair of pliers to pull the canvas as tightly as possible.

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After the canvas is sewed on, make up a waterproofing mixture (see "Waterproofing," below). Using a paintbrush, apply a thick coating of the mixture; with a piece of spare canvas, rub the sealant deeply into the canvas. Let this dry overnight and repeat the process again the next day. Then give the coracle two coats of oil-based deck paint.

A final weaving to cap off the gunwale is now completed, and this is lashed to the weaving below it. The final step is the installation of a seat, which is supported in the middle by a single 2-foot-by-2-inchsquare piece of spruce, notched to fit into the ribs and fastened to the seat with a couple of dowels. The spruce seat, 8 inches by 1 inch by 3 1/2 feet, is attached or slung from the gunwales.

Coracles are paddled, or more correctly sculled, not to the stern but rather toward the how using a figure-eight stroke Paddling to the side, as one does a canoe, sends it in circles.

We keep one coracle at the pond and one down at the cove. Some 6 feet long, the latter is the largest I have built so far Mid sometimes transports as many as three of us out to the sailboat. It makes a great lightweight dinghy because of its exceptional buoyancy, and it's able to handle rough seas.

Excerpted from Maine Farm, A Year of Country Life, written by the late Stanley Joseph and photographed by Lynn Karlin. Published in 1991 by Random House, the book is now out of print but still available on the Internet.

Waterproofing

To make 1 gallon of sealant combine the following: 43 ounces boiled linseed oil, 21 ounces paint thinner, 34 ounces porch and deck enamel, 2 ounces Japan drier, 6 1/2 pounds silica (obtained from a potter) and 2 ounces spar varnish. These ingredients can be obtained at art supply or paint stores.

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  • Beetgreens 8/27/2009 10:29:51 PM

    The article said that it had been excerpted from the book Maine Farm, A Year of Country Life, written by the late Stanley Joseph. I found the book available on line and ordered it today. I’m hoping many of the questions will be answered there.

  • Kathy Marsh 8/27/2009 6:01:29 AM

    You don't need the construction paper at all. I've worked on a few Boyne corracles (on the Boyne and neighbouring rivers) and you just make an oval on the ground the size you want your boat to be.
    The usual wood is not willow but hazel but the cutting, drying and soaking of the wood is still a good idea, though not absolutely essential. If you can get hold of an ox hide it will shrink to fit the basket work support and you won't need to dry and then soak. In use it will tend to be kept soaked anyway - using a corracle is pretty much a recipe for a wet backside.
    Don't think palm fronds would work - not rigid enough. You need something that combines stiff and pliable - sorry but I don't know enough about the vegetation of Florida to make recommendations. I think if I were making a home made local material fishing boat in Florida I'd maybe be looking at the south american style reed boats. I'll try and put together some corracle pics and get them up on the sonairte website

  • cat 8/26/2009 7:33:11 PM

    How can I find the answers to the existing questions? Thanks,Cat

  • Jody 8/26/2009 11:28:50 AM

    Is it possible to use something other than willow? I live in south Florida where palm fronds are plentiful, would these work or some other local material?

  • Rennyrij 8/26/2009 10:55:40 AM

    Nice article, but could use more photos. Do the sticks go through the paper or beside the paper? What does willow look like? Are you talking about weeping willow or some other kind? Can a keel be added? What does a proper paddle look like? Is a kayak paddle of any use? What does the seat look like? Thank you.

  • Howard 7/13/2009 9:56:54 AM

    I was so pleased to hear you've revived the coracle. I first read about them around 10 years ago when reading the dictionary one night. Webster's made it out to be a lake craft. I'm glad to hear it can be used on rivers as well. Do you have a book I can buy?

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