garywright : photos : Home Built Canoes and Paddles : Snowshoe12 Ultralight Canoe - Gary Did I mention these boats are light? I stretched this canoe from the 12 ft design. This boat was built for display purposes, only - a prop at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson - so I omitted the Kevlar roving.- powered by SmugMug

Here are some canoes and paddles I have built.

These are not kit boats - I start with purchased plans, lumber, epoxy and fiberglass cloth. I have tried to give credit to the designers who created the plans, where known.

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garywright > 17.5 cedar stripper

This cedar strip canoe is 17.5 ft long, about 34-35 inches wide, and weighs about 65 lbs.

Old Town sold the plans along with a thin book titled "How To Build the Cedar Strip Canoe". While not given credit by Old Town, the builder in the book looks very much like David Hazen, author of "The Stripper's Guide to Canoe-building".

garywright > 17.5 cedar stripper2

Another view of the boat built from the Old Town plans. I spent a little over 200 hours on building this one.

garywright > 17.5 cedar stripper - deck detail

The deck is ash and walnut. Some old time boat builders say it is bad luck to use walnut in a boat. You can see the brass stem band and the bronze eyelet provided for tying on a line.

garywright > 17.5 cedar stripper - seat detail

Seat is home built from cherry and hung from the inwales with silicon bronze bolts. Factory woven cane is secured by a spline in a routed groove. Outwales are sassafras, inwales are cherry.

garywright > Snowshoe12 Ultralight Canoe

This fully functional 12 ft solo canoe weighs only 14 lbs! The light wooden frame is triangulated with Kevlar roving, then covered with Dacron. The designer, Platt Monfort, calls this building method Geodesic Airolite construction - http://gaboats.com/

It takes me about 80 hours to build one of these. The woodworking is low stress - like building a giant model airplane - and material costs are moderate.

Platt Monfort calls this model the SnowShoe 12.

garywright > Snowshoe12 Ultralight Canoe - Gary

Did I mention these boats are light?

I stretched this canoe from the 12 ft design. This boat was built for display purposes, only - a prop at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson - so I omitted the Kevlar roving.

garywright > Snowshoe12 and Double-blade Paddle

This was my first attempt at making a double paddle. The blades are slightly "spooned" (concave) on the working face.

The paddle is made in two pieces joined by friction-fit copper fittings. The two halves are much easier to haul around.

The fitting also allows the blades to be angled to each other so when the down blade is flat to the water, the up-blade slices through the air, edgewise - a benefit when paddling into the wind. Because it takes a little technique to master this arrangement, sometimes it's easier to just set the blades parallel.

The copper fittings are made for plumbers, not paddlers, and are less than ideal because there is a little play in the joint (annoying). On later paddles I used a longer piece of aircraft aluminum which worked better and was also lighter.

garywright > Snowshoe12 Ultralight Canoe - Deck Detail

This deck is a little more elegant than what the plans indicate.

garywright > Snowshoe12 Ultralight Canoe - Thwart Detail

A boat cushion on the floor boards and this carved thwart for a back rest makes a very simple seating arrangement. The curved panel back rest is a builder modification.

Snowshoe12 Ultralight Canoe - Gary

Did I mention these boats are light?

I stretched this canoe from the 12 ft design. This boat was built for display purposes, only - a prop at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson - so I omitted the Kevlar roving.