Day 6: Skin-on-frame rower-sailer

Day 6, skin-on-frame row/sail canoe. 7hrs.
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Started the day by removing the spreaders and then playing with the shape of the frame by adjusting the width. 44 inches was as far as I could go before it started making unsettling noises. At that width it was 13 inches deep which looks nice. I brought out the oars to figure out the rowing stations. Cut and tied off the stringers and made some integrated carry handles for the ends. Made the outwales and then oiled the frame. The shape still isn’t exactly what I want but I’m contemplating putting a skin on it anyways because it will give me a place to test out a bunch of my experimental ideas without ruining a good boat. It’s not really a proper rowboat shape, but it will be interesting to see how much that actually matters on the water.
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I built this canoe using the formula-based, free-bent, balanced-tension system/scantings from my canoe course, and when I removed the center spreader it only closed up about an inch which is perfect. Ironically in the case of using this system to make a little row-canoe the outward thrust of the ribs that I worked so hard to tame is likely the very thing that would fix the issues I’m having with this prototype. Using thicker mid-section ribs to create a slightly sprung open shape would look better, provide better rowing geometry, and stiffen the floor to resist the skin-builders nemesis, the hogged keel. The only difficult part of using my new canoe system is finding really good bending stock that can handle the substantial overbends needed during the steaming process. I think it’s kind of cool that for this particular boat you might be able to build it with less than ideal bending wood.
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Day 6, Skin-on-frame rower-sailer. Build time: 7hrs.

Started the day by removing the spreaders and then playing with the shape of the frame by adjusting the width. 44 inches was as far as I could go before it started making unsettling noises. At that width it was 13 inches deep which looks nice. I brought out the oars to figure out the rowing stations. Cut and tied off the stringers and made some integrated carry handles for the ends. Made the outwales and then oiled the frame. The shape still isn’t exactly what I want but I’m contemplating putting a skin on it anyways because it will give me a place to test out a bunch of my experimental ideas without ruining a good boat. It’s not really a proper rowboat shape, but it will be interesting to see how much that actually matters on the water.

I built this canoe using the formula-based, free-bent, balanced-tension system/scantings from my canoe course, and when I removed the center spreader it only closed up about an inch which is perfect. Ironically in the case of using this system to make a little row-canoe the outward thrust of the ribs that I worked so hard to tame is likely the very thing that would fix the issues I’m having with this prototype. Using thicker mid-section ribs to create a slightly sprung open shape would look better, provide better rowing geometry, and stiffen the floor to resist the skin-builders nemesis, the hogged keel. The only difficult part of using my new canoe system is finding really good bending stock that can handle the substantial overbends needed during the steaming process. I think it’s kind of cool that for this particular boat you might be able to build it with less than ideal bending wood.