Installing the Gunwales

After spending many, many hours sanding the epoxy on the interior and exterior of the hull, we are ready to start building again. The gunwales are the next step. The scuppered type that we install are more work than most other types, but we feel their good looks are worth the extra effort. The scuppers give the traditional look that canoes had when ribs extended between the inwale and hull. The scuppers also allow all of the water to be drained from the canoe when tipping it on its side.

We needed lumber about 16.5 feet long for the gunwales so we scarfed an extra section on to the end of the piece of African Mahogany that we chose in order to get it to the necessary length. An 8:1 scarf was used.

The scupper pieces are cut to length with a drill bit to give then a radius on each end. About 50 of them are used.

The scuppers were then epoxied in place on the sanded hull.

The breast hooks were then installed at each end.

The inwales came next...

...followed by the outwales. The outwales are different from the inwales in that the last three feet of each end has been tapered to a narrower depth. This gives the ends of the canoe a much finer look which really improves its appearance.

Some creative clamping is required in order to coax the gunwale into meeting the rise at the end.

All of the pieces come together to form a strong, rigid hull.

Finishing Out the Interior (Part Three)

Here's a better look at that quarter knee

The building phase is just about complete. This week, Tom added the trim and the sunburst design to the bow seat. We had ordered three sets of brackets (they were chrome as bronze was not available). Each would hold a flexed piece of wood which would then "tent" the cover so that water would not pool on it. But, it just didn't feel right putting those metal brackets on this beautiful wooden boat, so we didn't. Tom fabricated brackets out of mahogany and they blend in much nicer and look far better than the metal ones. He also built the oarlock chocks, rounded the edges of the gunwhales, drilled the stem for the bronze bow eye, applied two coats of penetrating epoxy and the first coat of varnish.

Presently, Tom is building the stern seat. The slats will be cut to match the sunburst design on the bow seat. Also, he is laminating the knees for the fore and aft center thwarts out of Phillipine Mahogany.

The oars arrived from Shaw and Tenney (http://www.shawandtenney.com/) out of Orono, Maine and they are beautiful. They're 8' flat blade spruce with 10" sewn leathers.

Row, row, row your boat...life is but a dream.

Finishing Out the Interior (Part Two)

Tom has been working on the interior. So far, he has the breasthook in place which is really going to look nice once the varnish is on. It is a substantial piece of African Mahogany with a beautiful grain. He finished the exposed edge with a nice curve.

The gunwhales are on, hence all of the clamps. They are also done in African Mahogany to match the breasthook. The quarter knees are on at the stern, you can see one of them in the third photograph.

The forward and aft center thwarts (seats) have been dry fitted, but will be removed for routing, sanding, and varnishing. Tom built the thwart knees but was not happy with them, so he is rebuilding them.

Next up:

• Thwart knees
• Bow seat
• Stern seat
• Socket pads for the oar locks
• Socket pads for the cover

Row, row, row your boat...life is but a dream.

The Final Plank

All of the planks are on the boat although the sheerstrake has yet to be glued and trimmed to the gunwhale. Next, the outer stem will be fitted and the keel will be attached.

Row, row, row your boat...life is but a dream.