This page decribes the construction of a 15 ft. cedar strip Hiawatha from the book Canoecraft by Ted Moores.

Construction began in January 1998 after several months of reading and weeks of preparation, including an extensive search for suitable cedar planks, sawing four 1 x 8 planks into 75 1/4" x 3/4" strips, milling a bead and cove into the sides of each strip, constructing the strongback, laying out the cross-sectional stations, cutting and aligning them on the strongback, and finally, steam bending, laminating and carving the ash stems.

After determining the lay of the first strip, the sides went up quickly. Strips were glued to each other and stapled at each station.

As the last of the full length strips were attached, the compound curve at each end made it difficult to keep them flat against the station. Allowing them to "float" off the station would have resulted in a reverse rocker, obviously undesirable in a canoe. Also, from this point on, each strip had to be trimmed to meet at the centerline.

This is how the canoe remained most of the spring, summer and fall. It was a WINTER project after all.

Hull planking was completed in early January 1999. Outside stems were attached, carved & sanded, and feathered back around to the bottom of the hull. These Oak stems will provide some protection to the ends of the softer cedar strips.

In the background is Doug's Mad River Revelation (otherwise known as the Wreckalation).

Sanding went quickly, and the hull was ready for fiberglass. At this point I was still considering a keel design. I prefered a flat "shoe keel", more for protection & added strength than for the tracking a keel usually provides. However a short, wider keel would be difficult to fit to the varying angles at the centerline, and would have to marry up to the narrower stems at each end. (In the end I eliminated the keel entirely)

A base coat of System Three Clear-Coat Epoxy was applied, and Doug assisted me with the fiberglassing. The wet-out of the glass with Clear-Coat Epoxy went pretty smoothly. The next day we switched to the standard System Three Epoxy to fill the weave of the cloth. It was a bit more harried as the gel time of this epoxy is much faster.

After removing the hull from the forms and sanding the inside (a much more difficult process given the concave surface), the boat weighed in at less than 30 lbs. The inside glass & epoxy, trim, and another coat or two to the outside will probably put the finished weight near 50 lbs, which was my target weight.

On Saturday March 20th 1999, Doug, myself, and Jim, a builder from Humboldt, glassed the inside of the hull. It went well, again thanks to Doug's help & Jim's expertise!

After trim (gunnels, decks, yoke & seats) and several coats of marine varnish (with UV inhibitor), the boat was completed just in time for it's maiden voyage with my nieces and nephews at Big Creek.

More information on boatbuilding at http://skunkriverpaddlers.tripod.com/boatbldg.htm

Other distractions, places to go and things to see...

Skunk River Paddlers http://skunkriverpaddlers.tripod.com

Skunk River Navy http://www.biology.iastate.edu/SRN/SRN.html

Story County Conservation Board http://www.storycounty.com/conservation/default.html

IOWATER http://www.iowater.net/ ,on-line database http://www.iowater.net/database/online.asp

The Nature Conservancy of Iowa http://nature.org/states/iowa/
2001 Volunteer Workday Schedule

Iowa Prairie Network http://www.iowaprairienetwork.org/

Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge http://www.tallgrass.org/

Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation http://www.inhf.org/

Echo.Lion Productions & VaarkMann's Home of Neat Stuff http://members.xoom.com/VaarkMann1/

The Creator https://www.angelfire.com/ky/kubist/Me.html

#54 http://sports.nfl.com/2000/playerhighlights?id=166