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Boat Forum / Building / September 2005Long person cheap canoe
unfortunately my legs have caused me issues with my kayaking life (especially if I want to keep my shoes with me...) and therefore I want to build myself a cheap canoe for fishing, canoeing & travel - just to muck about in. I can't afford to buy my own, but don't mind building my own now the winter is here. I've seen a couple of cheap canoe plans http://www.bigdamfish.net/ccanoeM.PDF seems pretty indepth and cheap - but will it be stable for someone my size for the activities I want to do, or should I be modfying the length? Help :- ( preferably from someone who'll stop me from making an expensive mistake! Tim, Have you considered making a "strip-built" canoe? I have bought and read a book on strip building written by Gil Gilpatrick. He has taught strip building to high school students for years and the boats look wonderful. One great feature is the ability to modify the the length and general shape of the boat to get the handling characteristics that you want. The boat looks great AND fits your needs. Fairly cheap to build, light-weight, and would be an excellent winter project. Hope this helps, Paul > unfortunately my legs have caused me issues with my kayaking life > (especially if I want to keep my shoes with me...) and therefore I want [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Help :- ( preferably from someone who'll stop me from making an > expensive mistake! Michalak Piragua ? Two sheets of ply, easy to make flat bottomed canoe, enclosed storage area at the front and back, stable, mine is anyway :) The best way to get the plans is to buy Michalak's book which is about $20. >unfortunately my legs have caused me issues with my kayaking life >(especially if I want to keep my shoes with me...) and therefore I want [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >Help :- ( preferably from someone who'll stop me from making an >expensive mistake! Something with a 30 inch beam is not hugely stable but you should not get into paddler induced roll oscillations either. The cost can be rather low for this design. I'd give a thumbs up for "give it a try"! Brian Whatcott p.s. I designed a pram - shorter but wider, and much more difficult to roll - you might look at one or two designs like that - you trade stability for reduced speed - naturally. http://www.jemwatercraft.com/proddetail.php?prod=Smpl Building your own can be cheap or just as expensive as buying. Depends on the materials you use. Strip-built boats can get expensive in that you have to build a strong-back first. > Strip-built boats can get expensive in that you have to build a > strong-back first. There's and ad at ott.rec.canoe-kayak for strong back and molds for a 16 ft prospector stripper used twice for $300 Canadian. Strippers are pretty expensive to build. You save about 1.3 off retail by building it yourself. I guess the savings in labour pays for the strong back and mold and then some. People tend to build these boats over other kinds for appearances. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned > unfortunately my legs have caused me issues with my kayaking life > (especially if I want to keep my shoes with me...) and therefore I want [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Help :- ( preferably from someone who'll stop me from making an > expensive mistake! I built a variation of that Cheap Canoe and am pretty happy with it. I differed from the plans, making it longer and using chine logs rather than stitch and glue. I also added some floatation chambers. You mention "someone my size" - I'm just under 6' and 240(ish) lbs and my boat works well for me. With a second person in it putting the weight over 300lbs it does get a bit tippy. I built a seat by nailing a 3/4" board to some 2X4s on edge and find that works fairly well for my less than limber body. Sitting on the bottom is pretty uncomfortable. http://www.floatingbear.ca/PirogueBuilding.htm  SignatureAndrew Butchart andrew@floatingbear.ca > You mention "someone my size" - I'm just under 6' and 240(ish) lbs and my > boat works well for me. With a second person in it putting the weight over > 300lbs it does get a bit tippy. Looking for: stable 60(ish) lb second person willing to share paddling. :) -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned I built two of these boats and think highly of them. Strong and light $275.00 investment. Bill > unfortunately my legs have caused me issues with my kayaking life > (especially if I want to keep my shoes with me...) and therefore I want [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Help :- ( preferably from someone who'll stop me from making an > expensive mistake! |
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