Building with Ma

**imported_Daniel** · 02-23-2002, 07:47 AM

OK, here is the scoop. My mother is 67 yrs old, and loves to canoe, though she doesn't own one. What I would like to do is build two with her, one for her, one for me. I would like to keep it as simple as possible, so she can do hands on stuff too, yet create something easy on the eyes, and easy to paddle as well. I would buy all the material, and create some new memories for us

. I know she will be tickled pink when she hears about it. So, any suggestions for a design/plans that would fit the above?

May I be half the man my dog thinks I am.
Dan

**Donn** · 02-23-2002, 08:16 AM

Dan...you wouldn't be a Pike or Musky fisherman, would you?

**imported_Daniel** · 02-23-2002, 08:30 AM

Yes, I am an avid pike fan, have never fished for musky though. Last year caught some truly magnificent pike on my 9wt. fly rod, what a thrill!

**Donn** · 02-23-2002, 08:37 AM

I never targetted Pike, but caught many of them on Musky lures. A great fish. The biggest I ever caught was a 30 pounder, who hooked herself on a metal stringer, while munching on 4 big Walleye that were on the stringer, and hanging off the stern of my boat. It was night-time, and I was fishing minnows for Walleye off the bow of a 16' aluminum boat. I heard this awful racket in the stern, and went back to find all 4 walleyes gone, and this huge pike thrashing on the stringer.

**Bill Dodson** · 02-23-2002, 08:42 AM

Hi Dan,

Would you consider a kit? I've always liked the looks of the Chesapeake Light Craft boats, although I should say that I've never built one or dealt with them... still, I think their reputation is good. You might check out their Sassafras series of canoes at the Chesapeake Light Craft Homepage

Good luck... you're doing a fine thing [img]smile.gif[/img]
Bill

**imported_Daniel** · 02-23-2002, 08:43 AM

Lol!! That would be something. We kept a few pike for dinner (they are actually great eating from clean water) and found eating size walleye in their stomachs, couldnt quite get myself to fillet and eat the partly digested walleye though. The largest pike was 42" caught by yours truly.

**imported_Daniel** · 02-23-2002, 08:52 AM

Thanks Bill, thats a fine looking canoe! Though I would not discount a kit, I live in Canada, and with the exchange rate and shipping, duty etc, I would be putting out close to $2000 for each kit. I see they didnt offer just plans, but yea, something like that would be sweet!
Dan

**Donn** · 02-23-2002, 09:01 AM

Dan:

CLC offers plans for some of their other boats...maybe it's worth an email to them. Worst they can do is say no.

**ken mcclure** · 02-23-2002, 09:31 AM

How fancy does it need to be? You could try one of the little plywood canoes. Inexpensive enough and fun enough and when they're done, she'll either love it and be satisfied with it or love it and want to build another.

Check the "free plans" section at Bateau.com (boat plans) for the 14 ft. canoe.

**Wild Dingo** · 02-23-2002, 10:37 AM

What about Bear Mountain boatworks? Thats in Ontario Canada... Prices for plans for canoes $60? Their site doesnt appear to discriminate just cause your local

... sounds fair from here...

http://www.bearmountainboats.com

Another is Greenvalley Canoes again in Ontario Canada bit dearer at $89 Canadian

http://www.greenval.com

Worth a look is my guess I'll have a looksee in me favorites for some others... I know Ive got a few in there but try these two anyway... see what happens

Id say Bear Mountain would be well worth a gander mate the selections flamin huge and they seem pretty helpful...

Good luck... Go Mum!!!!!

Take it easy
Shane

**NormMessinger** · 02-23-2002, 11:04 AM

Two cents here and two cents and pretty soon you're gittin' some good advice. Somehting is fishy here but other wise what's been said about boats is good. Here's a couple more.

If you just want to build a canoe and are not awefully concerned about performance check out the Six-hour canoe. It is okay except hard to control if much wind is blowing. You can build one with common lumberyard materials for $100 Canadian probably.

Great performance comes at a cost in materials and complexity of building. The CLC boats are good as are any number of strippers and lapstrake.

One in between would be Sweet Dream which reqires 4mm marine plywood to take the bending, torcher, but construction is not so complicated.

Best wishes to you AND Ma.

--Norm

**Wild Dingo** · 02-23-2002, 12:39 PM

He just likes to keep the younguns busy Mike! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Take it easy
Shane

**NormMessinger** · 02-23-2002, 02:20 PM

Well, okay, if by mature you mean old, here ya go:

I got going pretty fast there. The boat stopped when I got to the beach but I didn't.

[img]tongue.gif[/img]

**Donn** · 02-23-2002, 03:20 PM

Ummm...Norm...what part of Nebraska were those pics taken in?

**imported_Daniel** · 02-23-2002, 04:17 PM

Thanks all for the replies

! I love the look of the lapstrake ones, but am a bit

yet. I will take all the wise advice under consideration and will let you all know what design I decide on, and of course keep you up to date on the development of the plan. It sure is nice to know that wisdom and help is just a button away.
Dan

**Donn** · 02-23-2002, 04:30 PM

"It sure is nice to know that wisdom and help is just a button away."

Not to mention opinion, sarcasm, and dazzling wit!

oooooooo...check out the Red Bird on P. 92 of the new issue! Gorgeous. I showed it to SWMBO and she said it looked like fine furniture.

[ 02-23-2002, 05:33 PM: Message edited by: donnwest ]

**garland reese** · 02-23-2002, 07:29 PM

Esox,
It sounds like you and your Mom need a couple of Wee Lassie Canoes. Mac Mcarthy's Featherweight Boatbuilding, available from WoodenBoat Store or you can order it from your local Larger Bookseller, has the mold patterns and instructions for building this little boat. These are small (11 1/2' long 27" beam) "double Paddle" canoes. The paddler is sitting on a small caned seat in the bottom of the boat. This gives the little boat a very good measure of stability. Mac's book is both entertaining and instructive. The canoes are built in cedar strip/sheathed construction. This results in a boat that is both strong and beautiful, in addition to being quite lightweight. The boats can be built simply or you can really dress them up with extended decks, feature strip, etc. Mac even covers the making of your own double paddles. These boats are small and simple enough to build that you can get them done faily quickly too, so long as you keep after it. You can do a lot of the setup first (strongback construction, mold making, setup, inner stem laminating, etc.), before you get your Mom involved. You'll have to do this twice if you intend to build at the same time. You can buy of make your own strips. Other than cutting the strips, the boat can be built with hand tools (some power tools like R O sanders, routers, jigsaws and such). Some small canoes are simpler to get built, but few are prettier. Many of these little boats have been built by both men and women under the supervision of Mac at his Sarasota FL shop or at home right from his book. You can get the mold patterns from Mac for $20.00 if you don't wish to "loft" them from the book (the offsets in the book are not too difficult to use.........it is not full fledged lofting so don't be too daunted). Mac is a great guy. He has a small website and puts out a quarterly newsletter. I think Mac's site is www.feathercanoes.com
Mac is his seventies. A lot of builders and users of these little boats are in the same age range as your Mother. These are very portable, beautiful, and tough little boats that can be launched in all manner of quiet water places. Mac leads an annual camping excursion into the FL swampland. Sounds like a great time.
Good luck with this project, whatever you decide. It sounds like a fantastic idea to me.
Garland

**Wild Dingo** · 02-23-2002, 10:34 PM

Heres a small quote from Mac's site to get you and Ma thinking...

The way I paddle a Wee Lassie is like a saunter or meander to a walker, an aimless enjoyment of what is there right now. You paddle in this moment of existence. A wildflower is as important as a tree or the river. When looked up at close, a boulder covered with moss becomes a whole world.

Now aint that what its about??

Take it easy
Shane

Norm it was about time you put your bum into that little canoe!! felt good right?

**stef** · 02-24-2002, 04:55 AM

You could also try Noahs Marine. They are based in scenic Etobicoke ON, now part of the "mega city". They are purveyors of marine ply and its related support equipment. They also sell materials kits of various cedar strip designs.

The kits include all the "easy to find" things like seats, decks, ready cut cedar strips, etc. not readily found at the local CTC store.

They do have a web site listed in their ad in Wooden Boat. If you visit the store leave your cash and credit cards at home to resist the temptations.

Best regards

Stefan

**Ron Williamson** · 02-24-2002, 05:11 AM

I know a guy who got Stitch and glue canoe plans (kayaks too)from John Winters,a designer for Swift Canoe.These seem like great little boats,with no exchange to worry about and no mold to build.Lloyd Bowles is his name and he goes by "mad kanuist" on the myccr(my canadian canoe routes)forums.I don't know his email off hand.
R

**Sailman58** · 02-25-2002, 11:45 AM

Hi Dan,

If you want to scratch build one of the CLC lapstitch canoes, get a copy of Canoe Shop by Chris Kulzcycki. Chris is the former owner of CLC. The book has plans for the 12 ft, 14 ft and 16 ft variations of this boat.

Ron

**Tom Dugan** · 02-25-2002, 01:31 PM

Doh! Sailman58 beats me by an hour and a half.

Available right here from the WoodenBoat Store, it describes the construction of all 3 sizes of the Sassafras. Evidently, the plans are included. Quite a bit cheaper than the kit at $19.95 US.

I built the 12' back before the book came out. Quite nice in protected waters, but gets a bit dicey when a chop picks up. Mine weighs something like 26 pounds. You might want to try the 14' version for your mum.

One thing to bear in mind with these small (<15') boats is that they're designed to be driven by a double-bladed paddle from the seated position. I set mine up so I could convert between kneeling/single paddle and seated/double paddle. BIG difference in balance and handling. If your mother much prefers to kneel, I'd look for something other than a Sassafras, Wee Lassie, or other Rob Roy derivative.

Just my $0.02

-T

**Andrew** · 02-26-2002, 01:48 PM

Lots of good ideas. Let me add that Mac's Featherlights' weigh as little as 14 lbs. I'd throw in a plug for CLC's Millcreek13. Very stable and (this may draw fire, but...) you could do it in 1/4 luan if money is really tight.

**Paul Wild** · 02-27-2002, 01:18 PM

Hi Dan,

I built a chesapeak kayak from CLC's plans a couple years back and it turned out great. I'm very happy with it. Also, I picked up the plans from Noah's in Toronto. (http://www.noahsmarine.com). I understand that they don't carry CLC plans anymore, but they do have a great many resources and plans, as well as all the materials you could need. There's also a store called Canoe Country in Terra Cotta which may carry plans.

Good Luck,

Paul

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