Since I was a teenager I’ve wanted to build a cedar strip canoe. When I was in boy scouts one of my Scoutmasters had built one and it was by far the nicest canoe I’d seen. In my twenties I bought a copy of Ted Moore’s Canoecraft and read it through and through many times. Building a canoe does require a shop space with a fair amount of room though. The materials are not inexpensive and the amount of time to complete the project is fairly substantial. So the project will be occupying the shop space for awhile. In addition to all those factors, my woodworking skills were very limited at the time.
Which brings us to now. I’m currently working at a farm that has a large woodwork shop and a sawmill. My employers have graciously allowed me use of the space and the equipment to make the canoe project a reality.
The design I’ve chosen is the Huron Cruiser 15-9 which is one of the plans that are given as a table of offsets in the 2nd edition of Canoecraft. As a complete cheapskate I’ve decided to try and loft my plans from the offsets rather than buy them. We’ll see how that goes. If it’s not so good, then I’ll resort to full size plans.
I’ve decided to keep a blog of the project as a way to track my progress and time. Mostly for myself, but I know that I’ve spent many hours reading a lot of other canoe building blogs and forums so if I can be of help to any future builders so much the better.
I don’t expect updates to be too steady especially at first as there are lots of preparations that need to be made. I’m using the shop at work so obviously work projects come first with regards to shop time and company tools (the table saw is going to see lots of use). I also have a family life that dictates my free time and summer is the busiest season for recreation and our garden so I imagine canoe building is going to be more of a winter time project.