Day 5, Skin-on-frame tandem canoe. Build time: 7 hrs. Faired the stringers into the stems. I’m liking the new curved stem shape, it feels right on a full size canoe. I’m wondering if I could still nest a pair together? Wouldn’t make sense for a pack canoe where every inch counts, but for a...
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Day 4, Skin-on-frame tandem canoe
Day 4, Skin-on-frame tandem canoe. Build time: 6hrs. Tied the stringers on today, and then burned the rest of the day filming new and replacement videos for the building course. I’m getting ready to release a major update next weeks so we are scrambling to get all the pieces in place. One of the...
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Day 3, Skin-on-frame tandem canoe
Day 3, Skin-on-frame tandem canoe. Build time: 4hrs. A pretty easy and uneventful steam bend this morning. I had Liz fire up the camera to make a new bending video for the canoe course. I figure you can never have too many views of the process before you dive in. I will also post...
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Day 2, Skin-on-frame tandem canoe
Day 2, Skin-on-frame tandem canoe. Build time: 6 hrs. I sometimes think that the hardest part of working out a boat design is deciding on a stem shape. At some point you just have to commit because it’s impossible to get it right your first time. I’m working a bit of recurve into this...
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Day 1, 16ft skin on frame tandem tripping canoe
Day 1, 16ft tandem tripping canoe. Build time: 7hrs. While I’m deciding what I think of the row/sail canoe, I thought I’d take the week to build a straightforward Prospector-style tripping canoe. 16 feet long, 35 inches wide, 13.5 inches deep. 2 inch progressive rocker, 8 inch sheer, shallow arch hull shape, little bit...
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Video: Capsize recovery in the sailing canoe
The first thing I do with any new boat is work out a capsize recovery plan. Little sailers are always sketchy with all the strings involved and that’s a strong reason to have as few as possible. Stowed oars, a sprit rig, and a daggerboard would eliminate all the tangles but the sheet, although...
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Day 14: Row/sail canoe, version 2
Day 14, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 5hrs. Woke up to beautiful light in the shop and started working out a flotation strategy. I want to have easy options from bare boat photoshoot/protected water rowing mode, to svelte grey pool noodle light air summer sailing mode, to big yellow repurposed inflatable fenders middle...
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How a simple material change can tip the balance between skin and frame in a skin boat
Compared to other forms of boatbuilding skin-on-frame is significantly faster, easier, and less expensive, so much so that it can feel like cheating at times. The big caveat is that there are formidable design challenges owing to the unpredictability of the materials. Unless you simply overpower the problem with extensive bracing, lamination, or oversized...
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Day 13: Row/sail canoe, version 2
Day 13, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 7hrs. A huge disappointment today, I’m having difficulties with the shape of the canoe due to the heavy skin I put on it. It’s worth a detailed explanation so I’ll tackle that in a separate post. Got all the pieces together today and started setting things...
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Day 12: Row/sail canoe, version 2
Day 12, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 2hrs. Webbed the canoe seat copying the commercial seats I’ve purchased. I have a compressor and a 1/4 crown pneumatic stapler so I was able to do it the exact same way as the pro seats. Not sure how you could do it otherwise. I set...
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Day 11: Row/sail canoe, version 2
Day 11, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 4hrs. Coated the boat/boats today. The coating I use to waterproof and protect the raw nylon cloth is the 2 part polyurethane sold by skinboats.org. It’s not a perfect coating due to lack of UV resistance but it is damn tough, long lasting finish that’s a...
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Day 10: Row/sail canoe, version 2
Day 10, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 7hrs. Spent the morning making VHMW skid-strips which I’ll talk about and show in another post. After that I stripped the frame and took the opportunity to weigh all the components separately which much to my surprise came out lighter than my last boat despite using...
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Day 9: Row/sail canoe, version 2
Day 9, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time:4hrs. Put a coat of oil on the frame. I’m pretty sure the instructions don’t say “use at 36 degrees” but sometimes you have to bend the rules. I use Watco Danish Oil because it penetrates well, dries fast, and is reasonably inexpensive. The reality is that...
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Day 8: Row/sail canoe, version 2
Day 8: Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 4hrs. With 8 coats of varnish on I brought the spars out of the basement to get some real world measurements for the mast partners. One thing I’ve always liked about historic small boats is the generous use of sheet copper, sometimes to protect the mast....
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Day 7: Row/sail canoe version 2
Day 7, Row/sail canoe version 2. Build time: 6hrs. Marked the oar socket positions, made rub rails, made removable floor boards. I typically avoid floor boards wherever possible. They add a lot of unnecessary weight, expense, and time to a build. A thin pad in the bottom is all that is generally needed to...
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