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For the love of strippers

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Feb 29, 2012
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How many of you paddle a stripper?
As many of you may have guessed by my screen name, I build and use strip canoes, almost exclusively.
I truly abuse my boats, mostly because I can easily repair any damage I might cause by beaching (gasp!!), breaching, dropping, impaling, crushing. You name it, I've seen it done to my boats.

I sometimes meet folks while I'm paddling that admire my strippers...I try to convince these folks to try paddling my boats. They're so much more than just a pretty face! Most folks are shocked when they lift my 17 foot tandem..."oh my Gosh, what does that weigh?!" It's 38 lbs, I say with quiet satisfaction.
And the way they handle? Like nothing else, fast, quiet, warm, maybe not so stable...

So how about it?

Who else is in love with a stripper?


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I've built 16 or 17 so far. Currently building another...I've built from solo's all the way up to 20 footers. My main reason for building them is because it's a cheap way to get a new canoe. I even paint some of them...they are cheap functional things for me.
 
I was reading this post over lunch when a colleague pops in, reading over my shoulder. He seemed to read the last sentence first and started with, "Let me tell you about the stripper I loved." The conversation was populated with 'a thing of beauty', 'fantastic lines', 'moved with grace', and how 'she shed everything with natural ease'.

I asked if he ever paddled one of these beauties and showed him the picture. The look on his face when I said "paddle one of these" was priceless. Then we realized we were discussing two completely different types of 'strippers'.

Ya gotta love a little levity in the workplace.
 
Yup. I own 3 strippers all built by Pat Brown - a tandem, a voyageur, and a guideboat.

I also frequently paddle a couple of other voyageurs, both of those built by GRB - one a "slenda glenda" (appropriately named), and a much beefier voyageur built specifically for Yukon River races.

Here are photos of my PB voyageur getting ready for the Adirondack 90 miler, and the GRB voyageur ready to begin the Yukon 1000 mile race at Whitehorse, and the PB guideboat on 8th Lake.

h4HFju7.jpg


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yLumCAs.jpg
 
I've built 16 or 17 so far. Currently building another...I've built from solo's all the way up to 20 footers. My main reason for building them is because it's a cheap way to get a new canoe. I even paint some of them...they are cheap functional things for me.

Well, c'mon, don't be stingy with the photos...

I was reading this post over lunch when a colleague pops in, reading over my shoulder. He seemed to read the last sentence first and started with, "Let me tell you about the stripper I loved." The conversation was populated with 'a thing of beauty', 'fantastic lines', 'moved with grace', and how 'she shed everything with natural ease'.

I asked if he ever paddled one of these beauties and showed him the picture. The look on his face when I said "paddle one of these" was priceless. Then we realized we were discussing two completely different types of 'strippers'.

Ya gotta love a little levity in the workplace.

I rewrote the thread title several times until I came up with an ambiguous, G rated header...


Here's another of my hulls.


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I do wonder how many have enjoyed paddling a stripper!!
 
How many of you paddle a stripper?

She charged extra for that... JK :D

SO glad you're reposting some of your work Stripperguy... always enjoyed it over on "the other forum"... you do fantastic work. life keeps getting in my way, but i still want to make one... all i've done so far is a stitch-and-glue Eureka 145.
 
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Only built one at this point but may build again in the future.

As much as I enjoy working on the wood/canvas canoes, they have to be taken apart first to fix it, whereas with a stripper, it is all new from the start.

Stripperinthewilds_zps0cab197a.jpg
 
She charged extra for that... JK :D

SO glad you're reposting some of your work Stripperguy... always enjoyed it over on "the other forum"... you do fantastic work. life keeps getting in my way, but i still want to make one... all i've done so far is a stitch-and-glue Eureka 145.

Seeker,

One of my buddy's started with a stitch and glue...liked it so much he ended up building 3 strippers in the next 2 years...He was driven by love of the process, didn't actually use his boats that much.
I started so long ago when I had no spare cash at all, but lots and lots of energy. Now, I build to accommodate my shrinking muscle mass and pencil neck!!

Only built one at this point but may build again in the future.

As much as I enjoy working on the wood/canvas canoes, they have to be taken apart first to fix it, whereas with a stripper, it is all new from the start.

Stripperinthewilds_zps0cab197a.jpg


Mihun,

That's a beautiful boat!! When is the next one??


And you guys tell me if you're bored yet...here's one that was a tax deduction give away, some lucky soul got this one for $10!! 17 ft tandem, 28" @ 4 in waterline, 40 lb total weight.


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Another view, same boat


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Those are some really nice canoes, and some great pictures.

yknpdlr: what all those numbers mean on the loaded Yukon boat?
 
Here's a few of mine from previous posts...

memaquay,

I like the looks of that Raven...I'm about ready to build another solo, I have to look up the specs.
And what is the material on the stem of that Outback? I have been using Dynel on my stems for years, but it's bulky and milky. I'm going to try Xynole next...


And here's another one of my strippers...this one needs a few good men.


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Stripperguy, i thought the same thing... all i could find was the Swift Raven... no cedar strip one... let us know what you find out.

i did discover the osprey and kite though... didn't know the osprey came in 'strip' plans. or that john winter designed it. (so many good designs, so little time and money. sigh...)
 
The osprey and the Raven are both John's designs. www.greenval.com is the place to go for plans. Martin Step is the proprietor.....I've built quite a few of their canoes, so they did up a set of plans for the Raven for me. It's not advertised, but perhaps they can do the same for you. The Raven is a very large solo, and not for everyone, but i really like it.

The stuff on the 20 footer is called Keel-Easy....don't think I'll use it again on my strippers, it's kind of ugly. The Outback is the first canoe I built with out internal and external stems, so I couldn't put a brass stem down the the stem line. I had soome of the Keel easy stuff for my school canoes, so thought I'd give it a whirl.

I built the Osprey and used it for my solo tripper for ten years...put a lot of miles on it, basically wore it out, I retired it to a friend's place for lake paddling.
 
yeah, Greenval came right up when i googled john winter... but no swift plans... but at least now i can ask for them. Thanks! man, so many good solo choices... prospector, raven, kite, osprey...
 
Here's my old comp cruiser at Lake Lila in '83, my first stripper, I built this in '78, I swore I would never again use redwood...


8-84_20.jpg
 
ok. i'll bite... why not redwood... heavy? (i've only made park benchs and tables from it, helping my cabinet-maker dad when i was a kid.)
 
ok. i'll bite... why not redwood... heavy? (i've only made park benchs and tables from it, helping my cabinet-maker dad when i was a kid.)

The redwood was dark, brittle, heavy, and oily. It sanded poorly, with a large variation in hardness across the grain. Many strips would shatter when attempting to twist them into position near the stems. It weighs 28 lbs per cubic ft, compared to western red cedar at 22 (about 27% heavier). That boat was a polyester resin layup, which is difficult enough to bond to any wood, and especially so with an oily species like redwood.
Other than that, it was an ideal material, having come to me for free!!
 
I only used redwood once, for making stems, and I found it to be incredibly brittle as well. I have used a lot of white pine for strips, as it is readily available, clear, and cheap. I'm using western red on my latest canoe for the first time. I must say my favourite wood to strip with is still the local white cedar. It's a lot more forgiving and will take a sharp bend without too much protest.
 
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