Introduction Chapter 1: Safety Chapter 2: The Canoe Models Chapter 3: The Preliminaries Chapter 4: Building the Hull Chapter 5: Fiberglassing Chapter 6: The Woodwork Chapter 7: Seats Chapter 8: Paddles Chapter 9: Repairs Appendix
Gil Gilpatrick has been a Master Maine Guide for over 40 years and taught Outdoor Resources at the Skowhegan Vocational Center in Maine for nearly 30 years. He has written extensively about his experiences in the outdoors and his knowledge of how to build outdoor equipment.
I read it front to back immediately and have returned to review
selected chapters since. The directions and illustrations are
excellent. Thanks for making your vast experience and knowledge
accessible to the rest of us. I now wish that I could take one of
those Allagash trips with you.
If you have never paddled a canoe maybe it is time to do so. Once
you have enjoyed the quiet and calmness of riding in a canoe on a
calm lake at dusk, you will be hooked. Doing so in your own strip
canoe is the epitome of bliss. Author Gilpatrick is an outdoorsman
that has written several other outdoor related books. If I were
going into the woods he is the guy I would choose for my guide. Any
guy that has taught outdoor resource classes for over 30 years
should know how to get me back home safely. Gilpatrick has written
books about building outdoor furniture, paddles, snowshoes, canoes
and cane seats. Native North Americans know the advantages of
travelling by canoe, the serenity of the calm lakes and being one
with nature allows us to reflect upon its beauty. This is even more
enjoyable in a self-built strip canoe and Gilpatrick walks us
through the process. In fact, there is a set of full size plans
included for eight different canoes. Gil shows you how to make
paddles and also goes into the details of making your own cane
seats. Maybe the 19' 6" Grand Laker model is for you and the author
even shows you how to add a motor if this is your desire.
Gilpatrick has built over 500 canoes in his 30 years of experience.
This book is the perfect book for both first timers and veterans
alike.
Step-by-step instructions and plenty of photographs explaining how
10 build a strip canoe; full-sized plans for eight different canoe
models.
There are two ways in which people are likely 10 start building a
canoe. The first is when they are already accomplished woodworkers
and they see the building of a canoe as a development of their
interests and skills. The second is when they have little knowledge
of woodworking but have an interest in and possibly a better than
average knowledge of canoes. This book has been written with both
types of reader in mind; it contains a single project with a number
of variations. After a brief introduction and a discussion about
safety issues, Chapter 2 begins with an examination of some of the
variations which are possible in canoe design. For example, the
bottom of the canoe may be flat or rounded and it may be built with
or without a keel. Four profiles are suggested: General Purpose,
White Water, Streamlined and Freighter. These variations are
condensed into the 8 designs presented; they range in length from
4.9 to 6 metres. Construction of a canoe is undertaken by first
making a strongback and mounting it at a convenient height at which
to work. The strongback allows erection of the 'stations' along its
length. Full-sized patterns of these stations for each of the
canoes are contained in a sealed packet on the inside back cover of
the book. These are the key to achieving exactly the shapes
required. The pre-formed strips of wood that form the hull of the
craft are then laid over and secured to the stations. Once the
structure of the hull is complete, including the necessary filling
and sealing, the stem is reinforced and the fibreglass applied. The
inside of the canoe comes next then the decks, thwarts and seats.
Each step in the construction process is explained in easy-to-read
text supported by clear photographs. A special chapter is devoted
to the making of repairs where these may be necessary and the final
part of the book covers the construction of the paddle. The author
claims to have supervised the building of some 500 canoes over a
period of 30 years. His intensely practical book is a revision of
an earlier work which was published under the same title.
'This book will provide hours of fun and satisfaction for making
superb canoes that work.'
BUILDING A STRIP CANOE, by Gil Gilpatrick, is a revised edition
that guides readers on building a canoe for any type of water. The
author has built more than 500 canoes in his 30 years of teaching,
while serving as an Allagash River master guide. Gilpatrick has
field-tested countless canoes and made modifications to their
designs. This step-by-step guide presents plans for building eight
canoes. It begins with important safety advice and includes
instructions for caning seats and making paddles. It's suited for
the beginner who's never built a canoe or the experienced
woodworker who wants to try a new design.
I enjoyed reading the book and studying the photographs. I'll use
some of his methods and refer back when I get into another boat
building jam. It may even keep me out of trouble. And I will pick
it up many more times just to look and think about my next
stripper.
There are many things I want to do in my lifetime. I can check off
skydiving, writing a book, and a few others that I've counted
myself fortunate enough to complete, but still there are more. I
grew up in Florida, and I was lucky enough to have access to a
number of rivers, a few bayous, and, of course, the Gulf of Mexico.
During my high school days, one of my favorite summer activities
was canoeing. I spent many days on Coldwater River or Blackwater
River either with friends or solo (often on an ocean kayak because
it was lighter and more fun to me). I will never forget one summer
day by myself on Coldwater (frigid water year round) when I quietly
rounded a bend on the water and came face-to-face with a mother
bobcat that had come out from the woods with her two babies to
drink from the river. She looked at me and gave the scariest deep
growl/screech I'd ever heard - I think I almost flipped my canoe
trying to get back out into the center of the river. She scurried
away, but my heart was pounding an hour later. Another time I was
out by myself was right after some major storms. I would often show
up at the canoe outfitter north of town around 8am or 9am to get on
the river before the crowds. On this particular day, I had asked
them to drop me off about 15 miles north of the outfitter's final
stop, considered The Day Trip. Probably thirty minutes down the
river, I ran into a series of downed trees that completely crossed
the river, forcing me to climb out of the canoe while standing on
foot wide tree trunks. The tree line was too thick to try to go
around the trees by pulling the canoe through the woods, so I was
forced to carefully pull, push, and slide the canoe and my supplies
over three or four trees that moved up and down in the water under
my weight. When I finished the route about 7 or 8 hours later, I
informed the outfitter about the trees and was told they'd dropped
off about 30 other people at the same starting point, many with
larger coolers and kids. Bad day for canoers. I haven't been
canoeing in a few years, but I've got two boys, ages 2 and 5, who I
hope will get a chance to do some canoeing on those same rivers
someday. But before I take them, one thing I've always wanted to do
is to build my own canoe. Specifically, a cedar strip canoe. I'm
thinking an 18 foot flat hull might be nice for a trip with the
boys. Maybe even a few handmade paddles to match. But I'm getting
ahead of myself first, I need to actually figure out how to build
one. And for that, I'm going to be eternally grateful to Gil
Gilpatrick. Gil's been a guide in Maine for over 30 years, having
carried his share of tourists down rivers galore. But it's not his
river skills that I need right now (although he's got those in
spades). What I need are his detailed instructions for constructing
my own canoe, all covered in his book, Building A Strip Canoe, 2nd
Edition. Before I tell you a bit more about this book, let me tell
you that I've spent hours and hours hunting down techniques and
discussions on the Internet related to building canoes. There's a
lot out there, believe me. You'll find dozens of differing
techniques and conflicting advice. It's a mess out there. But if
you pay careful attention to many commenters and builders and check
out who they often refer back to it's Gil Gilpatrick. When I
started noticing his name on many websites, I quickly discovered
that many canoe builders who have documented their own builds used
the instructions provided by Gilpatrick. Be aware that many of
Gilpatrick's earlier books, including the first edition to this
book, are difficult to find or expensive to obtain. I tell you this
only because if you ever think you might want to build your own
canoe, now is the time to grab a copy of this book before it too
becomes difficult to find. This one is in full color, and it even
comes with removable templates in the back of the book for cutting
out the patterns used to shape the eight different canoes he covers
in this single book. It's a large sized book, too, so you won't be
squinting at the photos wondering about any particular step. I've
been mulling over building my own canoe for a little over a year
now, and I've finally decided to do it. (My wife reads my posts, so
I imagine as she's reading this she's shaking her head and
considering calling her attorney.) I've got the space in my garage
ready. I've got all the tools minus one (a router table fence for
doing the bead/cove on the cedar strips - call my dad, Ashley, and
he'll tell you the correct fence I need for my upcoming birthday).
And I've read the book probably five or six times now, so I'm
confident in the order of the process. The only part that makes me
nervous is the fiberglass portion of the project, and I plan on
practicing on scrap before I approach the real hull. Building a
Strip Canoe covers everything - safety, prep work and supply
assembly, building the backbone (the frame you'll first need to
build along with the patterns from the included templates) that
will provide your canoe support as you glue, staple, and form your
canoe. And while I'm not 100% convinced that just anyone can build
a canoe, I'll be the first to admit (as a technical writer by
trade) that the instructions Gilpatrick provides are the clearest I
could imagine, and after reading the book just once I knew that it
contained the right details for me to follow along. I'm comfortable
working with wood and many of the tools required, but I believe
that even a novice with the right help (and maybe a friend with a
table saw and some time) can build a canoe. Gilpatrick covers it
all, including putting together authentic cane seating and paddles
as well as a list of specialty supply vendors (in case you live
somewhere that doesn't offer access to the fiberglass/epoxy
materials and even the wood). This is really the only book you'll
need should you decide you want to now (or ever) build your own
canoe. I'm much more confident in this upcoming project with this
book in my hand.
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