Are there advantages to adding a keel to your canoe, or are keels just a drag? We asked the designer of our plans, Steve Killing, to weigh in on the subject.
Kayakcraft contains detailed advice and instructions on how to make your own planking - we've digitized that section for the benefit of builders who're curious about choosing wood, the machining process, joining short planks, and more. These steps are equally applicable to canoes, kayaks, and small boats.
In Part III of the Composite Canoe Building series, Randy Pfeifer succeeds in building his lightest canoe yet. See his process, the materials he used, and final thoughts in this concluding post.
In Part 1 of this series, Randy's first canoe off the mold was unexpectedly heavy. With his second attempt, he begins the process of shaving some weight from a Freedom 17 built using composite materials.
Randy Pfeifer maintains the Bear Mountain Boats Builders' Forum and is highly knowledgeable on the subject of woodstrip epoxy canoes. In this series, he documents his experiments building multiple canoes using composite materials, with the goal of creating a lightweight but fully functional Freedom 17.
Regardless of what you know about kayaks at the moment, the kayak you build should be the right one for you. It will be your mental image of pointing that beautiful varnished deck out into the waters of your favourite place that will keep the project going.
One does not have to be a naval architect to understand the basic principles of canoe design. They are relatively simple, yet vitally important – especially to the builder. The curves of a well-designed canoe are its calling card – a proclamation of the kind of paddling it does best.
To us photos of Ted diligently scraping away on a C4 were just business as usual, but when we shared a few last week, Ted’s choice of tool provoked a surprising amount of curiosity. Odds are good you’ll be familiar with the paint scraper method of shaping the hull if you’ve already built your own canoe, but if you used an alternate method or are looking to refine your technique, read on for an ode to the humble paint scraper.
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When you're about to embark on your first canoe build, naturally you'll want to outfit your workshop with the right tools. Even if you're just b...