The boat takes it's final shape

The first of three 'moulds' has been stitched in place. The boat has opened out and has assumed the shape of the Waterman 13 drawings.

A canoe (shape) is born!

Have not fully stitched in but it shows the shape!

Rough and ready bow fairing

A block plane made quick work of the bows!

Quick bit of sowing after work!

Stitched middle chine in place - quite a challenge to line things up on your own!

Stitching the canoe

Tonight was the first test to see how well the panels fitted together. Using a template 2mm holes were drilled at 6mm distances from the edge of the board, soft steel wire seemed to do the job as the stitch.

Job done!

Joints are now double taped, cured and sanded - and yes they are as strong as the plywood itself!

Now the build gets exciting - stitching a canoe!

Tape is needed both sides

I found that the only way to make a strong joint is by taping and glassing both sides of the board - the joints work really well now - and even appear to be suitable for a boat!

Top tip - apply resin by roller not brush!

Joint failed

First problem - on turning a board the joint failed and cracked. I think that the board in question was not butted when glued. Peeling off the old fibreglass was tough and with blood on my hands the joint reset!

Joined up and left to set

Each joint has been carefully aligned, epoxy applied and taped before being covered beneath and on top with a poly sheet (apparently it stops thing sticking together... hopefully the wood will peel off the garage floor in the morning!).

Heavy paint tins are used to keep the joints flat.

Epoxy Resin - first contact!

My order arrived from CTS resins and tonight, with help from my canoe building friend, the gluing commenced!

Julian got his hands messy whilst I recorded the event! Each panel was primed with epoxy and the butt jointed using a 3 inch fibre glass tape. How strong it will be...will be found out in the morning!

Six hours work later

Here are the finished panels - ready to be laid out and epoxy butt jointed together,

Block Planing

The jig sawed pieces were quite rough and over sized at the edges. A sharp block plane soon evened thing up!

This is me finishing off one of the floor panels.

Jig Saw time!

Cutting with care, I found that the combination of a slow speed and a sharp blade made for a sweet cut!

Marking up

Reading from the plan the top board was carefully dived into 305mm vertical sections and points were marked from the plan. Using a flexible wood length and numerous panel pins the curves were drawn.

The Raw materials. Note the car boot sale square and metal ruler - sure to help with accuracy!

Stitch and Glue Canoes

I have wanted an open canoe for a long time - I even came close to buying one once. Why buy one when I can build one I thought!

A quick look through the designs available from Selway Fisher, I narrowed my choice down to the Waterman 13 - a small, wide and maybe even stable canoe.

Plans in hand and plywood ordered!

Let the build commence Sept 8th 2009