Chuck has invited me onto this forum, I think I may need a new venue as I might have upset some of the dedicated people on Matt's forum with my cavalier approach to the time honoured way of building canoes.
My canoe building method allows youngsters to build their own boats in 3 days, which apparently is anathema to lots of skilled people. We are currently hosting a home educating family at our house, while they build not one but two Canadian canoes. They started on Friday morning, it is now Monday evening and if you look carefully at the photographs on my website you will see 2 Canadian canoes, one nearly finished and another half-way. These have both been built by the 17 year old son of the family, with help from his brothers. Have a look at www.birchcanoes.com and in particular at the photos on the "May 06" link.
The first canoe is a Jem Watercraft Iroquois, which is an adaptation of Matt's Merrimac, which he kindly adapted to a flat bottom so as to indulge me. My method of building is a considerable short cut on the proper way of doing things, my defence is that the children get to do most of it, and they feel in charge. The second canoe is an adaptation of the Iroquois which the 17 year-old felt he could build after getting the bug!
These Iroquois are lovely boats on the water, very stable, and equally at home as a solo boat or with 4 largish people or a hoard of children. I have not managed to capsize one, I think you would have to get it up the gunwhales before it would go over, they seem to have all the features I would look for in a boat. They are light enough to carry single handed, and carry on a roof rack. Matt was very obliging, and I fully recommend the plans. I indulged myself and paid for full sized templates, which were well worth while. See www.jemwatercraft.com
They have a flat bottom, 2 chines per side, and I screw a chunky roofing lath on the bottom as a strake to keep the directional stability. I tried one boat with 3 and could hardly turn it round, one works well.
Sorry for the long initial post !
My canoe building method allows youngsters to build their own boats in 3 days, which apparently is anathema to lots of skilled people. We are currently hosting a home educating family at our house, while they build not one but two Canadian canoes. They started on Friday morning, it is now Monday evening and if you look carefully at the photographs on my website you will see 2 Canadian canoes, one nearly finished and another half-way. These have both been built by the 17 year old son of the family, with help from his brothers. Have a look at www.birchcanoes.com and in particular at the photos on the "May 06" link.
The first canoe is a Jem Watercraft Iroquois, which is an adaptation of Matt's Merrimac, which he kindly adapted to a flat bottom so as to indulge me. My method of building is a considerable short cut on the proper way of doing things, my defence is that the children get to do most of it, and they feel in charge. The second canoe is an adaptation of the Iroquois which the 17 year-old felt he could build after getting the bug!
These Iroquois are lovely boats on the water, very stable, and equally at home as a solo boat or with 4 largish people or a hoard of children. I have not managed to capsize one, I think you would have to get it up the gunwhales before it would go over, they seem to have all the features I would look for in a boat. They are light enough to carry single handed, and carry on a roof rack. Matt was very obliging, and I fully recommend the plans. I indulged myself and paid for full sized templates, which were well worth while. See www.jemwatercraft.com
They have a flat bottom, 2 chines per side, and I screw a chunky roofing lath on the bottom as a strake to keep the directional stability. I tried one boat with 3 and could hardly turn it round, one works well.
Sorry for the long initial post !
