BY
Lorne Swarthout
A large crew of boatbuilders, including 5 students, turned out on Wednesday, Sept 20, to push the canoe stripping toward completion. We are down to a long narrow “football” in the center of the hull which we are closing in with a herringbone pattern.The next building sessions will be Sunday the 24th and Wednesday the 27th, 12:00-4:00.
On Sunday afternoon a well-focused crew of boatbuilders added strips 21 and 22 to each side of our canoe Traveler. Jean-Noel and Nancy helped prepare and bend the new cedar strips which are bending wide as they begin to fill up the “football” in the center of the canoe. In addition, young Ish with help from Jennifer added some short strips to the upper parts of the bow and stern.
People have asked about the staples. We are using 9/16″ T-50 staples to hold the cedar strips to the sixteen “stations” and establish the form of the canoe. (Masking tape is used to temporarily hold strips together until the glue sets.) The staples will all be pulled before we sand the outside. After the sanding, a wash with water will cause the little holes to close up, and the epoxy resin coat will make them almost disappear.
On Sunday volunteer boatbuilders helped fit three more planks on the Traveler. We now have 17 white cedar strips on each side and have passed the turn of the bilge. Next boat building sessions will be Wednesday and Sunday afternoons.
On Sunday a small boatbuilding crew (Mark and his father Brian and Lorne) added six new planks to the cedar strip canoe. There were some lessons about block planes and wood rasps as well as conversations about designing skyscrapers and new computer chips. The next boatbuilding sessions will be Wednesday and Sunday afternoons. Volunteers welcome.
