boat

Skin is On

Doug Smith
After a few trials and errors I finally sewed the skin on my sof kayak. It only took two years of the kayak hanging under our deck in order for me to start the process.

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.

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!

Scarfing the Gunwales

Doug Smith
This past week’s goal was to scarf the gunwales. I cut the scarfs using a sled based on the one shown here.