…we tested two of Brian’s Ultralight canoes; a 10 foot Free Lassie and a larger 14 foot double of similar design and construction. We paddled for several hours on False Creek in fairly calm conditions with waves from the wakes of passing powerboats enlivening our paddling experienceAs expected, these boats handle very well. They are exceptionally nimble, turn quickly, yet track well.
Larry Zakreski. Momentum Magazine
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I really enjoyed my morning session at the Naramata Centre. The boat building class wasn’t stressful at all. The project developed in a very interesting way, gradually emerging from nothing into a beautiful and working project.
The boat building class was interesting, satisfying and lots of fun.
The class was excellent, as was the instructor. The session was very informative and met all of my expectations.
Participants in the boat building class held in the Naramata Centre, Naramata, B.C.
Your boat building class was fun and most informative. Thanks alot, Brian.
Alan and Trevor
The skin canoe building class was excellent as was the instructor. I loved the hands on approach and I am looking forward to your next boat building seminar.
Kevin
The very well organized seminar covered in one day, every step in building a canoe. How wonderful it was to see an affordable boat come to life.
Richard
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Hi Brian,
We finished the boat on Saturday. The varnish was still a bit soft but we went out for sea-trials yesterday with a Minn-kota Endura 30lb thrust motor and it ran beautifully. The boat tracks like an arrow even in powerboat wakes, and while the .
turning is a bit slow, the electric motor brings us about without argument. It is a very stable, very quiet, and fast fishing boat — if anything, at the lowest motor speed it runs a bit fast for trolling. In any case no fish caught up to our lures.
We used dimensional kiln-dried WRC throughout (clear spruce is super-expensive here, $200 for an 18′ 2×4). I didn’t have any luck finding green wood of any sort, so we laminated the ribs out of 0.08″ thick WRC that we ripped from 2×4 stock. More sawdust than finished lumber, by the way. We used polyurethane glue (“Gorilla Glue”) throughout which was messy but fast, stong, and completely waterproof. Lots of sanding was needed but it gave up a nice finish. We laminated the decks from 3/8″ x 1-1/2″ stock in a partial herringbone pattern and reinforced them with short deck beams under. We also laminated a combing strip for the decks that helped the deck blend in with the rest of the boat. The WRC varnished up beautifully.
When we set the keelson we dropped the aft portion a few inches to give the stern some extra buoyancy for the electric drive that we were planning for, so with the motor and battery, the boat sits in the water with a bright attitude. We added a 1/2″ x 3/4″ strip full length along the keel for protection, which might account for some of the tracking ability. We haven’t added seats yet since we are still working out the weight distribution but it is very forgiving as we were crawling all over it. We have nine flooring strips 3/8″ x 1-1/2″ and they seem to form a stiff and reasurring sole. The slight arc of the strips makes a comfortable seat, as is. We installed two thwarts so that midships are clear for a third passenger or a box of gear that we can toss in (with emergency paddles, fishing tackle, lifejackets, lunch, and duck tape).
For the motor mount we added some thickness at the stem (stern) post on the part above the decks, then built a block for the electric motor C-clamp that fit over the stem (stern) post. We added a long 3/8″ diameter bolt that goes through a hole drilled through the block and the stern post, and added a fast-release cotter pin for good measure. The motor installation literally takes seconds, even at dock.
The skinning went well, and we finished with a coat of oil-based polyurethane varnish and a quart of off-white tinted polyurethane marine paint that we had lying around. The total weight for the boat (no motor or battery) is 37lb with three coats of varnish on the WRC for protection — very easy to handle and well within what we were hoping for.
I attached a few pictures to this e-mail. I have more but they seem to take up a lot of space and I don’t want to overload your inbox. The third picture shows the block that we made to fit over the stern post.
Thanks for all the help (and the critique on my original lines!). Making the boat was really a lot of fun, and my wife and I enjoyed working through the design questions that came up. Most of these were solved in the early morning in bed over a cappucino, which was by far more pleasant than my other limited dockyard / marine architect experiences.
Cheers,
Ron (and Kris)
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Hi, Brian
My name is Antonio Prado, and I live in Santos, south of Brazil.
I’ve bought your video “Build your own skin-on-frame UL canoe”; you give lots of information that are hard to get elsewhere and, above that, you SHOW how simple it is to build the boat.
Antonio Prado
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PROGRESS! Ribs are in, Canoe is off the form!
A word on design… IT’S AWESOME!
Upon popping the boat from the form, every odd bend in the gunwales or stringers relaxed and the boat took an amazing form. The boat weighs in at around 10-12lbs currently. This boat looks AMAZING. I can’t believe how fast it has come together. Tomorrow I’m going to fair the boat and possible lash ribs in between.
Time: About 2 days but I ended up having to plane all the ribs narrower which took several hours.
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Caroline Smithers – Vancouver
I am so happy with the boat my son and I built together. It was such a great experience and we now have a beautiful unique rowboat with our own personal family logo on. I love it! Thanks Brian for your friendly help and encouragement.