Anybody can make something that’s pretty and curvy looking but my passion is focused on how it performs in the water.
When it comes to understanding something there is simply no substitute for experience. This is the 12th canoe I’ve built since May. It’s built with white oak ribs, red cedar gunwales and upper stringers, Douglas fir bottom stringers and keel, and is covered with a 9 ounce nylon coated with a two-part polyurethane. This particular canoe is 13’7” long 27 1/2 inches wide 11 inches deep, with a six inch sheer line, and has a gentle continuous rocker along most of the keel, transitioning into a progressive steeper rocker a couple feet from the ends.
The reason I chose these dimensions is because it’s the longest possible boat that will fit inside of my van, it’s the widest boat that I can tolerate paddling with a double paddle but the narrowest boat that I can still kneel in to use with a single paddle. I experimented with a slightly taller keel on this one for a very shallow vee.
I’m still at least 20 boats away from having a clue what I’m actually doing with this whole canoe thing but with this latest one I feel like I’ve finally got solid footing. I’m excited to see how it paddles.
Still on track to release Beta plans and videos in a few weeks – looking forward to watching these evolve further once they get into the hands of other builders.
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