freedom-15

Strongback Giveaway

Doug Smith
In the name of space saving and other committments in the near future, I’ve decided that I should get rid of my strongback.

The Canoe is DONE

Doug Smith
I finally really finished the canoe today! I hadn’t coated the inside of the canoe until this week, but timing and weather made it happen.

César's Bark Canoe

Doug Smith
César’s Bark Canoe is a fantastic NFB (National Film Board) film from 1971, produced by Bernard Gosselin. It captures César Newashish, a 67-year-old Attikamek of the Manawan Reserve north of Montreal, building a canoe solely from the materials from the forest, including birchbark, cedar splints, spruce roots and gum.

Freedom 15 Launch!

Doug Smith
Last weekend the family and I launched the Freedom for the first time. It wasn’t quite “finished” in that I hadn’t varnished it yet, but I wanted to wait for the weather to cool a bit before spraying the urethane.

Chipping at the Freedom

Doug Smith
After I installed the decks, I concentrated on finishing the outwales, seat placement and thwarts. The outwale install was okay but I had a couple of issues.

Decks Finished

Doug Smith
After installing the inwales I turned my attention to the decks. As usual, I pretty much followed the words of wisdom found in Canoecraft.

Started the Seat Caning

Doug Smith
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.

Inwales Are In

Doug Smith
I glued the inwales in a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t updated the blog because I’ve been going full-tilt on the canoe every chance I get, and I’ve been having some family fun camping in BC!