Walking Crow, there's a guy in Spokane WA. that builds and teaches classes,sells materials, etc. The Bark Canoe Store. www.barkcanoe.com Thought you'd like to know. Stumpy

Ive always dreamt of one of these ,Man would I love to get one of their freight canoes and about a half dozen guys and hit the Great Lakes,Even one of their small ones and just me..Mark

As bad as I hate to bring it up while we're all drooling over birchies (I can't hardly stand to look at a picture of one --- it 'flings such a cravin' on me'!), but has anyone had any experience with Lowe canoes? In (shudder) aluminum? I've got a 16-17 footer, classic design, for a neighbor. She has languished, unused by her master, now, for years on end. Might could buy it, I haven't asked yet.

Fiddlesticks

I looked up the website of the folks in Spokane, and they look good. I also looked up a site in northern Minnesota, called "Squeedunk" or something, where they make beautiful kayaks as well as birch canoes. Their birch prices are $200 per foot, which is actually cheaper than others I've seen, but...

Fiddlesticks, Back in in 1967 and again in 1968, my dad and I spent a month in the Boundry Waters,north out of Ely, MN. You don't want an aluminum canoe. Even loaded,when the lake ripples right, its BOOM,BOOM,BOOM all day long! In my humble opinion, it Kinda puts a damper on the wilderness experience. "Be wary of strong drink;it will make you shoot at tax collecters. And miss! Stumpy

Hey Sticks ,the ones Ive been eyeing are the fiberglass birchbark replica's on that sight.Up close they still look real...Mark

Hey stumpy! Thanks! I've been talking around to folks and have found out that all you say is true. Am about to back out on aluminum for sure! I'd be crazy to have anything except my fowler go, "BOOOOM!" on a hunting trip.

Mark, thanks for reminding me about those bark-simulated canoes. I knew I'd glimpsed some the other day but had forgotten where. I'll check'em out a little closer.

Fiddlesticks

Mark, there's an outfit over on Grand Lake here in Maine that makes a big freight canoe,that's what it" Grand lake Fright canoe, big ,lots of tumble down,wide,flat bottom,heel for lake running, it's the same as they built 150 yrs ago for the sport camps.She will hold and halls gear and men till you forget who can along and what you brought.
It cost just about to much,if you know how much that is!

Here's me and a friend in my bark canoe. Nothin like the real thing.

We took this 26' North canoe on a 100mi trek along the north shore of Lake Superior back in 78

Beautiful canoe pictures, amazing craftsmanship. Congratulations on quite an accomplishment!

Wonderful. I've never been a canoer, and certainly never in a true birchbark.

Do they actually handle better than the modern sort most of us are forced to be satisfied with? Not that it matters --- just having one would suffice.

I'm presently looking at "Buffalo Canoes." Turns out they're built near here. If anyone ever wondered where the original molds for "Old Town" canoes went, I found them! Haw! Their 17 footer rises to 20 inches both stem and stern. I like that idea, for the lake I'll be mostly on can brew up a white-capped gale out of nowhere. This design should help me cut through that, should I ever have to. Having spent a few years on that body under sail on boats 12-26 feet long I've a pretty good notion of what to expect.

Also, with our having recently come into possession of a woodshop, my wife and I are kicking the idea around of building our own birchbark a little at a time.

But we want to get into the water, first.

Fiddlesticks

Actually, Sticks, though I don't know what design you're talking about, canoeists generally don't like high prows and sterns in a high wind--they're just like sails. In a wind, a canoe with a low bow and stern and reasonably low "tumblehome" (rise of the gun'ls above the waterline) works a lot better. On the other hand, the high bow, especially, does keep a bit more water out where it belongs! The long, skinny, low ones you see these days made of Kevlar really are fast, paddle straighter, and are tippier for non-experienced paddlers.

Dick

Thanks, Dick. You can tell I've never been a canoer!

The tumblehome is only 13". The prow is 20.6". I was mistaken in that the the stern height wasn't given. I'll bet the 'birchbarkers' had the dickens of a time on lakes considering how high their stems and sterns appear to be!

It's difficult to get the 'sail effect', though, without a dagger/center board lowered well into the water, which holds the craft from blowing sideways and helps to form the 'lifting' of the sail which moves (actually squeezes) the boat along. It is true that when the winds are high enough, a boat can 'bare pole' its way forward without sails because the hull, itself, actually becomes the sail --- especially on a beam reach. The keel (center/dagger board) still must be in effect, though. The only place the keel is unneccesary is directly downwind.

Thanks for giving me something else to think about, for sure! If the stem and stern on a canoe were high enough a fellow might spin like a top during a blow! Haw! Haw!

In the lake where I'll mostly be I've had waves to wash across the cabin decks of my 26 foot sloop. You could have skied behind me that day! Methinks I'll stick to coves and small bays in my canoe.

Any other advice is also appreciated.

Fiddlesticks

If you want to yum, drool, and even writhe in the floor, take a look at these!

www.sandypointboatworks.com

Makes a man want to turn his wood-shop into a canoe building facility! Hmmmmm . . . "Fiddlesticks Canoe Co., Inc.?" . . . uhhhh . . . "'Sticks' Stick Boats?" . . . (scratch, scratch my noggin) . . . "Fiddle's-Vessels?" . . . How's this for you old beaver hunters?: "'Stick's Floats!" You could greet each other with this slogan, "How does your 'Stick's float?" Huh? Huh?

Methinks I'm listing considerableness to larb'd. Well, 'twas a thought, anyhow --- tho' a might addlepated. I won't be plumb surprised when or if I don't order a DVD on that 16 footer, though. And don't you fellers be either one, either!

Dreamin'sticks

Sticks,
Yeah, that's what I meant about the bow and stern being sails--you will find it very hard to control in a stiff breeze, especially since there is no keel or dagger board in a canoe. That's why the voyageurs, even in their big freight canoes, laid over on stormy or windy days. And of course with several paddlers on each side of the canoe, you can add and subtract force, port and starboard, to fight currents and winds. There's a book called "The Illustrated Voyageur", by artist Howard Sivertson, who lives somewhere around Grand Marais, Minnesota, that's got some great voyageur art. Lookin' at that sure whets the appetite.

Dick

Yup! I assure you that I'll not be going a'purpose on those sorts of days! Ha! I've been known to lay over, even when I was a sailin' man. But those conditions can suddenly come on this lake, and thankfully go just as quickly. If I'm in one it'll be by accident --- partly because of my natural laziness.

Thanks again, Dick, for that insight and the book recommendation.

Fiddlesticks

I just found the book, "The Illustrated Voyageur" at www.amazon.com and bought it. Appears to have some mighty pretty artwork and history in it. Got it in hardcover.

Fiddlesticks

It's a neat book, with history as well as art. Not a large book, but a great addition.

Dick

Fiddlesticks,
If your looking to try a wood canoe, your library can probably get "Building A Strip Canoe" by Gil Gilpatrick. The book uses west system epoxy, I was talking to a canoe builder who uses one of the other brands. I didn't build one yet, but I've got an 18' which only weighs about 60 lbs. These canoes aren't built 1840's but I can't afford a birch or elm bark canoe at this time. People usually have no problem when I use it at a reendezvous.
ken