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.
Be sure to check out skin-on-frame and stitch-n-glue construction at Nathan's Boats http://www.nathansboats.com.
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