It has taken me seven months, but I am happy to say that the canoe is finished. At the last minute I changed my mind on how to secure the yolk. I have it temporarily installed with stainless steel carriage bolts, bronze are on order, but other than that I am done! I hope to have it out on the lake sometime next week. For anyone contemplating building a canoe, just note that it does take a lot of time. I did enjoy the process, especially in the latter phases when it began to actually look like a canoe, but there are several highly repetitive processes such as stripping the hull and SANDING (sanding the hull, sanding the epoxy, sanding between coats of varnish). That said, the best advice I received was to be patient, fix what you can, and learn to live with what you can't fix.
I do want to mention the caned seats. Prior to this project I have never had any experience with caning; for those that have you will note that the caning is not perfect, but I am pleased - so I can live with them. The seats in the pics are natural cane, I have since learned that lot of canoe builders will use natural cane for "show", but swap them out for plastic caned seats for actual use. I have ordered some plastic caning materials and will cane a second set (I have six grandchildren).
I do want to mention the caned seats. Prior to this project I have never had any experience with caning; for those that have you will note that the caning is not perfect, but I am pleased - so I can live with them. The seats in the pics are natural cane, I have since learned that lot of canoe builders will use natural cane for "show", but swap them out for plastic caned seats for actual use. I have ordered some plastic caning materials and will cane a second set (I have six grandchildren).