One of the boats in Robert Morris' book "Building Skin of Frame Boats" is the "Upper Yukon River Canoe". Although the book is excellent there are a number of mistakes in this section. But it gives a good starting point.

Some history of the boat

Originally made from birch bark, this boat is an interpretation done in Skin on Frame (SOF). Unlike the canoe styles found on the east coast, this craft is closer to the Aleutian SOF kayaks albeit without the kayak decks.Indian tribes that made and used this style included the Chipewyan, Slavey, Beaver, Hare, Dogrib, Tanana, and Gwich'in.

Assembly

Unlike most other SOF boats, this one starts off with a bottom plate. Here it is shown lashed and pegged together. Although I usually mortise my joints, I decided to peg this one just so I could see if there is any difference between pegging and mortising. Also I thought it might make the job a little faster. I normally obsess over details which makes for a longer project time. I'm working on that... The picture here shows a 16' bottom plate. This was the first error I found in the book. It should be 13'. Luckily cutting it down is not hard, but I lost a day in the process.

[May 27, 2010]

After cutting the ends off I decided to use a longer end block. this allows for a broader base to attach knees to.

The gunwales are then made. Because a canoe often has an inwale and an outwale with the ribs set in between, this is the outwale and is about 1/2" x 1.5". Having swept up gunwales is really different for me, but I enjoy watching people puzzle over how I bent them. I cut in from the ends 5' with the bandsaw, making 3 cuts. This makes the wood flexible enough to bend to shape, wherein they are glued back together. The gunwales were scarphed from 2 - 10' pieces.

The stem and stern pieces are put in as are the knees, which are pegged and lashed.

The ribs are bent and clamped into place - 16 in all. They are 1/4" x 1.5" ash.

[June 9, 2010]

Although it's not "the next big thing", it is nevertheless a handy accessory. It is "MagWear" - a magnet strapped to the wrist to hold needles, drills etc. Marketed as a handy way to keep nails and screws, it works better for me this way, since I don't use screws and nails in my boats.

The port gunnel is in place.

The frame before oiling. A few more "adjustments" will be made, but basically this is it before it gets a skin.

Here are a few pics from skinning, Day 1. The ends are basted and the rest of it is stapled to the inwales.

It's a wrap! The skin is all sewn up. It looks a little like Frankenstein's sewing, but it will look better after the paint. Honest! (I hope).

The skin gets two coats of Cabot's Spar Varnish. It's my first time using it. It normally sells for about $40/gal, but my cousin gave me this for free. I used about a quart and a half. At least I like the color, and the price was right. The rub strips were put on today also, and that ambar spar varnish really brings out the stripes in the curly maple.

The hull of this boat is so different from anything that I've built before that I began to wonder whether this thing would stay upright or not. It was complete enough to take out on the water. If it floats, I finish it up. If it doesn't, I don't. So here we go!

Just as we were getting to the launch the wind came up and the water started to get rough. Oh well. This IS a seatrial to test stability.

Being a kayaker I'm a little uncomfortable kneeling.

I didn't tip over but I decided it was time to get into my comfort zone, so I quickly changed to a sitting position. This is better.

Ducks FEAR Me!!

A summer of fishing, exploring, and tinkering on the boat. Life is good.

Serenity

Two sets of removable cedar floorboards add asthetics and comfort

Behind the paddler is a convenient place to stow "stuff". The astute will note the traditional resin lawn chair sans legs. It works.

The last detail: the craftsman's signature.

More seatrial and build pics here »