Thread: Thinking of building a canoe

I will talk about plywood canoes first.

If for two people, the sweet spot starts to be around the 16ft (4.8m) mark with most ply canoes coming in just under that.

Most will take up two to three sheets of ply and cost is likely to be around $750 to get the hull together.

Despite the materials being very similar the designs do differ a lot.

If you want lots of stability it will cut down the paddleing characteristic of the boat so it is nowhere near as nice to paddle. The best thing to aim for is adequate stability.

One of the curious things about canoes is that they always feel unstable when you get in them for the first time, but the body and mind adapt. Unless it is a design that is twitchy because it is performance oriented (or badly designed).

The other major way of building takes a lot longer, but makes for a very beautiful boat. That is cedar strip. There is probably four to six times the labour compared to a plywood canoe and in OZ the materials cost can be quite high unless you can mill the timber yourself.

So ... if you aim to go paddling, a ply canoe makes a lot of sense and some of them are very nice looking boats. If you like woodworking and producing something very beautiful, then the cedar strip boats are great.

Best wishes
Michael

Thanks for the reply. By "stability" I guess I mean something able to take 2 people easily with some gear, ie not race biased. Who's in a hurry?

Plywood sounds like a decent intro. I will aim towards cedar strip, as the canoes that I've seen of that style are truly works of art. I will admit to wanting to get something done more quickly and getting it in use.

So, plan or kit the way to go? I'd feel comfortable either way...

A kit is just a way of paying someone to do the first part of the building for you. If you are short of money, then you should avoid this.

The marking out process of any good plan is pretty straightforward.

If the dollars are a problem, remember that boats using similar amounts of material of a similar material will cost the same, no matter what claims are made about particular boats being especially cheap.

Best wishes
Michael

Originally Posted by q9

So, plan or kit the way to go? I'd feel comfortable either way...

A kit (for a basic canoe) will save you an hour or two of marking out and leave you with no-one to blame when it doesn't fit together.

Go on, be a devil, make your own mistakes, we all do and still have most of our toes and fingers

Richard

I wont say money is no object, but it is of secondary concern. If the marking out is pretty straight forward, then maybe I'll get plans and go from there. I think perhaps my only leaning towards a kit is maybe ensuring I've got everything I need to complete...

A couple of days to go, and the water tank moves from inside the shed to outside it, and on to its slab. Then I am going to have all this room...

I should add...I'm in Toowoomba, so I have no idea where to go for materials, or indeed if anyone local would have what I need...so suggestions on that front would be great too. If I've got to buy stuff in, I might as well consolidate freight and get as much from the one place at the same time as I can...

Originally Posted by q9

I should add...I'm in Toowoomba, so I have no idea where to go for materials, or indeed if anyone local would have what I need...so suggestions on that front would be great too. If I've got to buy stuff in, I might as well consolidate freight and get as much from the one place at the same time as I can...

I'm no Queenslander but BoatCraft Pacific would seem a good starting point. There are others on the forum from your area though and maybe they'll chime in.

Richard

this is where you tell me that Towoomba isn't in Qld and I'm thinking of some other place

Only one toowoomba I can think of

Although, I am basically going to have to travel if I do build a canoe...to somewhere with water

Howdy, It is quite interesting how little water can provide a nice circuit breaker if you have the canoe already.

When I worked up at Mt Barker, there were two little lakes in close proximity. One the municipal lake, the other is an old reservoir in a bushland setting that was used to rewater steam locomotives. Just paddling a short distance and practicing just paddling on one side or sculling draws or other manoeuvres was fun, but also just so nice to get on the water.

MIK

Hi q9
When you have selected a design (the not so easy bit) I can suggest Boatcraft Pacific in Brisbane for your stuff. They are at Loganhome on the southside, only a couple of hours from Toowoomba and have what you will need. There are often part built boats in the shad and they have good advice. I strongly suggest a stitch and glue or frame and skin boat, stitch and glue from good plans (correct shapes) is quickest. I built a strip plank canoe years ago, it took ages to build and because I picked a design that was bigger than I needed I was never happy using it. It looks pretty on the bank because strip planking gives lots of curves but most of the curves are underwater so no one else knows. Chose your plan carefully.
Have you considered 2 one person canoes vs a single 2 person? As for small water, dont worry too much, I was up at Cooby before they closed it and Leslie mid winter, both 10% but still a good paddle, but somehow the fish evaporated with the water.
Whatever you build will be a lot more satisfying and a damn sight cheaper than a plastic yak.
At the recent Wivenhoe Kayak fishing convention the show and tell was won by a guy with a wooden JEM Laker built from the free plans for about $300. We all walked past the plastics with the bestest sounders and rod holders to look at that boat.
A wooden boat will attract attention and you will be proud to say "I made it"
So good luck selecting plans
Tom

Thanks for the replies

Looking at the boatcraft site, there is a bit of a choice with ply. Is the Hoop pine worth the extra?

Howdy,

The Hoop Pine is a nice board, but it is a stupid size. Every piece of plywood in the world is 8ft x 4ft (2440 x 1220) but the hoop is 2400 x 1200 so many boat plans including mine either won't fit on it. or are tricky to fit.

So either imported ply or other OZ plywoods than hoop are usually the right size for most of the plans produced in the world - 2440 x 1220.

In South America they do have a lot of 1830 x 915 sheets. Trying to get a boat out of those is a real head scratching exercise!

Best wishes
MIK

That's good to know - thanks. You've save the world from a million swears

Seriously - any idea how frustrating that would be?

So I think I'll stick to some of the other offerings - remove the size issue and it'll make mistakes fractionally cheaper

I take it the Eureka 155 they sell is your plan?

Hi q9. It's a bit hard for Mik to plug his own designs but I will. I've been building Mik's Eureka 155 over the past few months as I wanted to build something straightforward but nice looking before venturing into a more involved boat that I've had my eye on. The Eureka is my first build and the only mistakes have been my own and easily resolved with help from this forum. I'm extremely pleased with the way it's coming along and visitors always admire the lines and ask where it comes from. Happy to answer any questions if you have any. Cheers, Marty.