Any canoe/kayak builders here?

[Jason Musgrave]

Anyone here built any cedar-strip, stitch & glue, or skin-on-frame canoes, kayaks, or SUPs?

Living in the land of lakes and looking at building some boats for the family. Thinking about a couple of stitch and glue boats as family projects which go together fairly quick/easy. And I've had a cedar-strip boat on my bucket list forever...might as well get started on it.

Who else besides Chesapeake Light Craft/Guillemot should be on our radar?

[Ras72]

A cedar strip has been on my bucket list for some time. So, I started this journey about three weeks ago.
I began with tons of research from suppliers and YouTube postings. I settled on http://www.bearmountainboats.com So far they've exhibited great customer service.
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Tomorrow, I hope to have all of my stations in place. Next will be the order of cedar strips... let the fun begin.
Let us know which direction you decide.

[Dmoeny]

I've built a few sof. Two baidarka, a paddle board and a rowboat using essentially the same system. If you haven't seen, check out Dyson and Platt Montfort for some inspiration.

[j44ke]

My buddy Alan Gage makes canoes, both racing canoes and traveling canoes. He's done some really beautiful strip-built canoes and also some composite canoes. In 2016, he did an absolutely crazy long trip up into the NW Territories by canoe with his dog Sadie. Just to test out his work. See his stuff here: Flickr

[summilux]

I've had plans for an Arch Davis Penobscott 14 for a decade or so and I know where you are coming from. I visited CLC some years ago just to see if I wanted to build something from their catalogue. The nice thing about CLC is that it is a well oiled machine. The kits are complete, the builds appear quite straightforward, CLC people are good and there is big online community support. The only downside to CLC is that the boats are kinda meh. They are like Giant or Spec. Nothing wrong with them but there is better out there. If you want something special and want to invest some time an effort building it up, then you want something more than CLC. Cedar strip is a lot of work though.

Get a stack of Wooden Boat mags from your local library and you'll find something there that speaks to you.

[guido]

I did a CLC kit years ago when I was doing kayaking. The kit went together well but the resulting boat was clunky and slow. If I was building today I'd do one of these:
Kayak Kits

Superiors Hawk series are really nice greenland designs...

[Jason Musgrave]

Awesome info guys, keep it coming!

snipped: The only downside to CLC is that the boats are kinda meh. They are like Giant or Spec. Nothing wrong with them but there is better out there.

This was kinda my gut-feeling, thanks for verification.

[Eric Estlund]

A buddy and I were talking about a mini summer vacation/ build marathon. I'll keep an eye here. So far just water pushing sticks.

[Ras72]

Eric, very nice work!
I'm not a bit surprised by the quality of your work but I'm always impressed with your stuff.

[Jason Musgrave]

Very cool Eric!

[summilux]

That's some very pretty work Eric. Did you biscuit join the handle and paddle ends? I'm worrying about the end grain/long grain glue joint. It's a very pretty paddle.

[Eric Estlund]

The tip is dowel pinned. The top of the handle is just clamp and glued. I've been playing with some different construction methods as I go to see how different set ups work and age for me. The one piece walnut handle has a big round tenon and is cross pinned.

[caleb]

A buddy and I were talking about a mini summer vacation/ build marathon. I'll keep an eye here. So far just water pushing sticks.

You might be interested in this video of the process for traditional paddles at Shaw and Tenney:





Or this one for laminated paddles at Sanborn:

[Eric Estlund]

Thanks! I'm pretty sure I've seen every paddle making video on youtube. Really fun watching the pros- I have a big drum sander slowly percolating based on watching those.

[caleb]

I've never been much of a woodworker, but I might need to learn after picking up this Chestnut Pal on Tuesday. It deserves better pictures, but I dropped my phone to the bottom of the lake while paddling it last night so they'll have to wait.

Chestnut Canoe by 1ctg, on Flickr

Chestnut paddles by 1ctg, on Flickr

[Yeah, yeah, "Mow your weeds ya hippie!"]

Looking forward to poorly impersonating Bill Mason.

And speaking of Mason, did you know The Path of the Paddle is all online now and downloadable for free? The link is to part one, but all four parts are there. Leave it to the Canadians to be this good.

[caleb]

My buddy Alan Gage makes canoes, both racing canoes and traveling canoes. He's done some really beautiful strip-built canoes and also some composite canoes. In 2016, he did an absolutely crazy long trip up into the NW Territories by canoe with his dog Sadie. Just to test out his work. See his stuff here: Flickr

If I remember correctly, he's the guy who went down and then upstream the entire length of the Bloodvein in Ontario and Manitoba, solo, with a boat he built himself.

[lumpy]

Caleb, what a pretty boat. I love the graphic and the stem reinforcement - does that go the whole length of the keel? Is the boat a Prospector design? How long is it?

Psyched to watch Path of the Paddle. I've read some of Mason's books. Inspiring.

[caleb]

Caleb, what a pretty boat. I love the graphic and the stem reinforcement - does that go the whole length of the keel? Is the boat a Prospector design? How long is it?

Thanks. The brass band is a cover for the stitching of the canvas bow and stern. It only extends about 6" over the keel on each end; most of the keel is just wood. I would estimate the brass band is 24-30" long on each end. I can get an exact measurement tonight if you need it.

The boat is Chestnut's "Pleasure Canoe" model. It's 16' long, but narrower than the Prospector (32-34" versus 36-38") and a little shallower with straighter sides. Great for lakes and mild moving water, but not a whitewater boat. In The Path of the Paddle, Mason switches back and forth between a Pal and a Prospector, with the Prospector doing most of the whitewater scenes. The Prospector is visually distinguished in the film series by its slat seats instead of woven ones.

[caleb]

Hopefully this is the low point, and it starts looking better from here.

I've sanded the outside of the hull, removed the outwales and sanded them down to 320, sanded the inwales as well as possible while leaving them in place, removed the seats, and recaulked both sides of the keel.

Chestnut surface prep by 1ctg, on Flickr

Chestnut surface prep by 1ctg, on Flickr

(That's water along the keel-line, not a super-sloppy caulking job.)

New seats, a rear thwart, a yoke, and plenty of good varnish are due to show up next Wednesday. Hopefully between now and then I'll be able to get the hull painted so that it's ready to have the trim reinstalled. Once I'm ready to pull the thwarts I'll see if I can fix the spot where the front deck is separating.

Chestnut surface prep by 1ctg, on Flickr

[j44ke]

If I remember correctly, he's the guy who went down and then upstream the entire length of the Bloodvein in Ontario and Manitoba, solo, with a boat he built himself.

That's him. He's a tough guy, though I think detailed preparation, resourcefulness and the mantra "how hard could it be?" helps too.