Building a strip canoe

I built an 18.5 ft White Guide model and am in the middle of building a 17 ft version of the same canoe. The first boat turned out well but the fiberglass is cloudy in spots. I layed up the second boat and the same thing occurred. It wasn't until sanding it down to the wood and relaminating (with the help of my brother) that I discovered the cause. Micro-bubbles in the resin were causing the clouding. It can occur when you reuse resin that you squeegee off the boat, but not always. The second boat is absolutely beautiful and will definitely be a head turner. But even the first canoe, with a less than perfect layup, has engendered many compliments on the few outings that I've taken. One more thing, work with a partner when fiberglassing and under-catalize the resin. It will give you more time to work and you'll end up with a better product.

This book lays out the steps to build a strip planked canoe in a straight forward way. It doesn't extoll a special technique or the ego of the author. Of the canoe designs included in the book, the White Guide model has to be one of the most beautiful ever created. It also includes directions on caning canoe seats and a design for one of the best paddles I've ever handled. This book presents the most useful information in a single volume for a new or experienced builder compared to any other canoe building book I've seen.I built a Guide model canoe from this book for myself and my family. It's hauled us on day floats, extended camping trips, held crowds of kids at birthday parties and spent a summer as a gold plater in a canoe livery over the past 8 years. It's crashed through the surf at the beach and through white water on mountain rivers. The boat still makes me smile when I load it up for a trip or see it in the water. And it still gets tons of compliments. Build one for yourself.

The theme of this book seems to be "its easier than it looks". and it really is. The book is very helpful and has several plans included. The writer basically says throughout the book, close enough is good enough- in most cases. Very helpful with suppliers and tips etc. If you want to build a canoe this is the must have read.

Gil Gilpatrick's book on building wood strip canoes is the best I've seen. I liked it so much that I recently ordered a second copy to give to a friend. Several months ago I built an 18 foot wood strip canoe using information found in a different book. I wish I had had Gil's book when I started that project! His book provides a number of effort saving techniques that would have been really handy to know while I was building my first canoe. Now, I'm going to use this book to build a second canoe!

I love this book. I spent 4 months of my spare time savoring every word as I built my 18 foot White Guide canoe. I started the project with no experience in boat building and now I'm dying to start another boat and help my friends build boats of their own. Be prepared to spend $1000, give or take a few hundred, on materials. After that and a bit of patience you'll end up with a boat that will turn heads and perform on moving or flat water like a dream. Included in the book also are instructions on caning (weaving with plastic cane) canoe seats and building some fine paddles.