Dug-Out Canoe

[Death By Drain-O]

Hey everyone. I'm Matt, Phil's (Tardevil) son. I'm taking an Advanced Placement US History class right now and about four of us in class have decided to build a dug-out canoe for some extra credit and do a video recreation of the Lewis and Clark expidition with it. If anyone has any advice or has built one before we would really appreciate the help.

And sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

[ 09-18-2003, 05:53 PM: Message edited by: Death By Drain-O ]

[Donn]

Hi Matt...are you going to use modern or original methods?

[Tar Devil]

It's wood and it's a boat, so you're in the right place, Runt!

Gheez, guess now I've gotta watch my language.

Welcome to the forum, Matt.

Later,

Phil (Dad...)

[ 09-19-2003, 07:59 AM: Message edited by: Tar Devil ]

[Bob Smalser]

I've watched natives do Mango logs as the base for a dugout with one or two Teak strakes lashed at the sheer for freeboard. Lashings were coconut fiber thru drilled or burned holes.

Log was dug out using diesel to char the center and hollowed with an adze. These were all double enders, with bow and stern shaped with the same adze.

[Tar Devil]

We're not going to be picky about our methods. We're wanting to burn it out for the most part, but we're definatly not opposed to taking shortcuts. We just want the extra credit.

-Matt

[ 09-18-2003, 08:12 PM: Message edited by: Tar Devil ]

[Donn]

OK...extra credit rules...use a chainsaw, and it'll go alot faster than burning it out.

Use pine, and the four of you will be able to carry it, because it's gonna have to be at least 25' long, and pine is light.

Measure the butt of the largest of the four classmates, and size the log you choose to fit. Size that log at least 8" in diameter larger than the largest butt on the crew. You're going to have to take at least 2" off the outside, and leave 2" of thickness at the gunwales.

[Ken Hutchins]

Welcome aboard Mat. [img]smile.gif[/img] Should be some logs available when Isabel passes.

[On Vacation]

What's your choice of woods? We have pine, oak, red cedar, and juniper, free for the taking, today. [img]smile.gif[/img] Please tell us about the name, though, before you any further.

[Death By Drain-O]

Thanks alot Donn and everyone. We're having to document our progress for our teacher so I'll keep everyone posted. I'm just hoping our group can work together well enough to get this thing done without killing each other.

[ishmael]

I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, that any dugouts were ancilary craft to a rather large plank on frame barge they took.

In any case, I think large cottonwood were the trees most favored, and the traditional method of construction, the whole world over, is to build controlled fires along the top of the canoe to be, and burn much of the wood out, with attendant chopping.

[Bill Perkins]

DD here's a full set of lines taken off a dugout preserved in a museum . I dought you'll find many such so I thought I'd post it . Here's an overview of how you might proceed .

If you were serious about building it I'd mail you a clean transparency . There was a Woodenboat article ( check index ) explaining how to use an overhead projector to throw a full scale image on a wall , where it can be traced on rosin paper from the lumberyard . That would be just the right degree of accuracy for this job I think .

The horizontal lines( waterlines ) in the sheer plan are slices through the boat .The shape of these slices is shown in the half breadth plan, and their thickness shows in the body plan .I'd adjust the position of the projector so the thickness of the slices as shown averaged 6 in. That will give you a boat close enough to the originals'17 ft. 7 in. length and most of the slices can then be built up of 4 layers of standard 2 by framing lumber .This could be short jobsite scrap layed up like bricks in glue to conform to a given template from the half breadth plan .

Each template would be a big ring , the inside of the ring being one waterline and the outside of the ring being the adjacent waterline . When your 6 big wooden rings are complete they would in turn be glued and stacked to form the blank for your boat . You can see the top one would have extra height at the ends .Boat models are often built this way .Hew with a hand adze or grind with a body grinder to make the inside smooth .

From the sections you can scale the required hull thickness at various points on the hull .Drill through the hull at intervals and plug each hole with a glued wooden dowel , it's length equal to the thickness of the hull at that point . Turn the hull over and chop ,plane ,and grind the outside smooth , stopping when the dowels appear .

Don't mix in Pressure treated pine , it's hard to work and is apt to be wet .Use the kiln dried stud scraps and glue with plastic resin glue .SPF would be the nicest to work, which is important .It would also be lightest . the crew will have to carry the boat at times .It doesn't have to be perfect or last forever .Just put some paint on and go .I think it would be an interesting project .

[ 09-18-2003, 11:54 PM: Message edited by: Bill Perkins ]

[imported_Steven Bauer]

Hi Matt, In the summer of 2000 I helped to build two dugout canoes right here in Portland, Maine. Here's a little article about the project that I found on the internet:

Africa Sails Balances Op Sail in Portland
by Wells Staley-Mays

As two dozen Tall Ships from all over the world sailed into Casco Bay in July to celebrate Op Sail 2000, dozens of folks on the parking lot of Green Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Portland had a smaller nautical experience. The parking lot was transformed into "Munjoy Village" as work on two traditional West African ocean-going dugout canoes progressed with the help of dozens of volunteers. Spectators enjoyed the sounds of traditional African instruments (koras from the Gambia and mbiras from Zimbabwe), heard the glorious voices of the Sudanese Women's Choir, and enjoyed colorful African fabrics and handicrafts. Related activities included presentations of art, and cultural, historical, and commercial displays about Africa and Maine in the Atlantic community.

The Tall Ships had sailed to ports all over the Atlantic world, but only to Casablanca in Africa. There was no mention of Africa's contributions to the Atlantic traditions of navigation in Op Sail promotional literature. Nor was there any mention of the impact of the slave trade on the prosperity of the Atlantic community.

This obvious imbalance was addressed by Eluemuno R. Blyden, Ph.D., the Interim Director of Africa Sails, a private non-profit educational corporation established by Dr. Blyden to build an Atlantic community through art, culture, and technology. The mission of Africa Sails is to foster trans-Atlantic cooperation for healthcare, education and commerce. Africa Sails uses traditions as a platform for raising awareness of 21st century issues facing the Atlantic community and Africa. He invited the community of Maine to participate in the building and sailing of a large West African ocean-going dugout canoe. Africa Sails purchased a one-hundred-year-old Maine white pine tree to supply the carvers with two sections of wood from which the canoes could emerge. The first canoe was completed in time to be launched with the arrival of Op Sail's Tall Ships. This boat will form the centerpiece of a continuing living celebration of Maine's diverse communities.

Maine has a rich history of involvement with Africa and Africans. Dr. Blyden developed a display about his ancestor, Edward Wilmot Blyden, who visited the United States from Liberia in 1862, and spoke at the Third Congregational Church in Portland. Edward Wilmot Blyden was a professor at the University of Liberia and was one of the most influential Pan-Africanist philosophers of the 19th Century. He was unique among Christian scholastics of the time in his deep understanding of and appreciation for the religion of Islam. Blyden was said to be fluent in forty languages.

Event organizers included the Museum of African Tribal Art, Genetic Designs, and the City of Portland. Information about the organization can be obtained from Africa Sails, P.O. Box 4131, Portland, Maine 04101. Telephone: (207) 828-2578 Fax: (207) 828-2936 E-Mail: eblyden@africasails.vjungle.com. You can visit the website at: website: africasails.vjungle.com

The website is no longer working. I don't know if any part of the Africa Sails organization still exists.

It started for me when I heard a piece on local public radio about this Africa Sails group and how the found this huge pine tree and had a traditional ceremony and cut it down and brought it to a church parking lot in Portland. So the next day I went down to the location with my kids and met Eluim and the Africa Sails people. That day we peeled the bark from the logs. They had cut the tree in two sections - the smaller, upper section, would be practice for the much larger bottom section. The first thing we did was to block up the log so the natural curve of the log would form the rocker of the finished canoe. Then we used a lumber crayon to mark out the sheer. We used a chain saw to make cuts accross the log down to the crayon line every 4 or 5 inches. Then we used axes to chip out the pieces between the saw kerfs. At this point we had a flat surface gently curving from the bow to the stern and all we had to do was hollow it out! We marked a line about 3 inches in from the edge of the flat top amd started chopping. This whole thing was very loosely organized. The group had no tools, all work was done by people who just showed up, with whatever tools they had with them. The best progress hollowing came by making 4 - 5 inch deep cuts lengthwise down the log with the chainsaw then chipping out the wood in between - just like the way we flattened the top. As work progressed on the smaller canoe we gained confidence and started the same procedures on the larger canoe.

Here's a picture of Eluim in the smaller canoe that I took last year:



The big canoe was much bigger. I have lots of pictures - somewhere. Maybe over the weekend I can try to find them and scan them in to the computer.
Bill's drawings are nice but I don't think they'll be very helpful in building a canoe. The shape of the canoe is determined by the shape of your log. He's talking about building the boat by joining together smaller pieces of wood. I don't think that would work. We did add a strake on each side of the bigger canoe.

Sorry this is so long - feel free to ask any questions you can think of. You guys have a lot of work ahead of you but it will be really fun, incredibly satisfying work.

Steven

[Death By Drain-O]

Sounds really cool Steven. I would have loved to see something like that.

[Bill Perkins]

Jeff I hadn't been aware of that book ,I must check it out . My scan was from Chesapeake Bay Log Canoes and Bugeyes .Have you made a dugout ?