Alsg, I have a few questions for you. I am in the process of determining which canoe to build. I am strongly considering the Wabnaki per Gil's book. I have sourced 8 - 1x6x8 rough cut cedar boards (knotty but cedar) planed to 3/4" thickness and have ripped this material into 1/4" strips. Strongback is built, but I was concerned about the capacity of the Wabnaki to support my height and weight (6'2", 240lbs). It seems as though you load up your Wabnaki generously and that may work for me with one 115L pack (or so I hope). I am happy to have found this post to learn from another builders experiences with this model. What was the finished hull weight. When used in fast moving rivers did your maneuver in any rapids and how did the boat handle the bumps and bruises that a river can deliver? I am hoping to build a tripping canoe that makes sense and doesn't limit what I can do with it entirely. The canoe will be used mostly for lengthy solo trips which may include fast moving rivers with rapids up to Class II. I was also considering a 16' prospector build or the Wilderness Express per Memaquays provided link somewhere in this forum:
http://www.carryingplacecanoeworks.on.ca/html/cdn_price.html Anyhoo, many decisions to make, but I am anxious to get started on my forms once I make my final decision. I am open to any feedback from others on this board as well. You did a fine job on your Wabnaki canoe. Canoe looks great!
Hi dcloots;
I'm 5'10" and depending on a number of things, I weight between 199 and 220 lbs! The canoe is in 6 oz S-glass inside and out and has a double layer at the football both inside and out, so a heavy build. I also built the seat frames and gunnels a little thick and went with thick decks. So I didn't go for a real light build. Nevertheless, the finished weight is 65 lbs.
I have tripped even more since this post, including along the Potomac again and twice on the West Branch, doing Lobster Stream, Lobster Lake, the West Branch to the bottom of Chesuncook, as well as Little Tupper Lake in the ADKs. Those West Branch trips were with another paddler of similar height/weight and an absolute TON of gear. I had a 115 liter pack, his pack was bigger, I also had a big kitchen box and my "NYETI" home built cooler, which is huge and was fulll of food. McCrea says I was overloaded, and I probably was, but it worked.
These are not heavy white water trips, but 2 years ago when I did the West Branch, the water was super low and some of the natural rapids above Pine Stream that are usually washed out (because of the dam at the bottom of Chesuncook), were exposed. More experienced paddlers than I saw them and said they were Class II approaching Class III. All I know is we came around a corner and got sucked into them, hit a rock hard almost immediately, and dumped. The canoe filled with water and went down the rapids, largely out of control, with me swimming behind. The canoe bumped a lot of rocks along the way.
When we finally got spat out right abut at Pine Stream and righted and drained the canoe, we kept paddling for another 2 days with no apparent problems or obvious damage. When I got home and did a close inspection, I found two small areas where the fiberglass had de-laminated on the inside (no tears or leaks however in the outer glass) and I patched them to no real ill effect (other than to my pride). You'd need to be pretty close to see the repairs.
This year with high water levels, no troubles at all on Lobster to Chesuncook (ok I did run us aground around Big Island but that was my fault; I took a crapty line).
Other builders may disagree, but I think cedar strippers make excellent trippers can be pretty tough, depending on glass layup, and will be comparably strong to any composite boat using similar weight cloths; but as with other composites they aren't going to be indestructible. Wrap it and it's kindling. The better a WW paddler you are (I'm not very good) and can avoid rocks, the less wear and tear and damage you will deal with. You will get scratches and the first ones will give you a heart attack, especially as you hear the awful sounds a cedar stripper makes going over rocks. But I built mine to be used and not hung up as art.
Gil's Wabnaki design is a good all-arounder. Has a lot of capacity for a 16' boat, is maneuverable, stable and good looking, too, in my humble opinion.
I did a complete build blog at the Shopsmith Forum.
https://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/general-woodworking-f5/a-slow-boat-to-nowhere-t14954.html
Happy to answer any other questions. Feel free to post publicly or PM me. I can send you a phone number via PM if you find it easier to chat.