I started caning the stern seat last week, and so far it is going fine. I’m using the instructions from Gilpatrick’s book “Building A Strip Canoe,” and his descriptions and photos are very good. So far I’ve finished doing the vertical and horizontal strips, and 1/2 of the first diagonal strips. I’m not entirely clear on how some of the cane pieces are going to be tied off but I suppose it will work out in the end.

I sanded the frame to 220 grit and varnished with a MiniWax Spar gloss finish. I tried a few different things to pass through the holes but I didn’t have the patience to coat all the holes with varnish…

1/2 finished the caning on the stern seat