I am beginning the research towards starting my first cedar strip canoe.
First a little background. I bought our first canoe, an Old Town RX Tripper, around 1990 in preparation for a BWCA trip we were planning. Well do to various reasons it took 25 years to get to that trip and it was just completed in July of 2015. It was a great trip with many learning experiences, one of which is our gear was way too heavy for our route. The Tripper weighs in at around 78pounds. Since we are on a budget and not able to afford a lighter canoe, either new or used, I believe I can build one for less and achieve a significant drop in weight, and the second canoe will be less yet due to already owning the strong-back and forms. I will need two canoes to handle myself and our three boys In addition, this gives me time with my sons.
Now what to build. Although we completely enjoyed the BWCA and do plan to go back, hopefully much sooner than later, it is a long trip from our home in central Indiana. Our local paddling options are mainly rivers and larger reservoirs. Ideally, I would like a canoe that is as usable solo as it is tandem; however, my understanding is most do not do both well and may only serve one or the other fairly. During my research, I came across the Jacks Special, which appears to meet most of what I think I am looking for, lighter weight, narrower than my tripper, solo/tandem use, and the bit shorter length may work better for my boys when they are paddling together. This research also led me back here to memaquay's recent build, which I had followed, just not with enough insight to “what” he was building until now. By the way, a very good-looking canoe!
So a few questions for those who have paddled this canoe, how does it do in a tandem situation, how is the stability, any other considerations before I dive into this adventure, is there a better recommendation i should look at?
Thanks in advance for taking time to read through this.
Bryan
First a little background. I bought our first canoe, an Old Town RX Tripper, around 1990 in preparation for a BWCA trip we were planning. Well do to various reasons it took 25 years to get to that trip and it was just completed in July of 2015. It was a great trip with many learning experiences, one of which is our gear was way too heavy for our route. The Tripper weighs in at around 78pounds. Since we are on a budget and not able to afford a lighter canoe, either new or used, I believe I can build one for less and achieve a significant drop in weight, and the second canoe will be less yet due to already owning the strong-back and forms. I will need two canoes to handle myself and our three boys In addition, this gives me time with my sons.
Now what to build. Although we completely enjoyed the BWCA and do plan to go back, hopefully much sooner than later, it is a long trip from our home in central Indiana. Our local paddling options are mainly rivers and larger reservoirs. Ideally, I would like a canoe that is as usable solo as it is tandem; however, my understanding is most do not do both well and may only serve one or the other fairly. During my research, I came across the Jacks Special, which appears to meet most of what I think I am looking for, lighter weight, narrower than my tripper, solo/tandem use, and the bit shorter length may work better for my boys when they are paddling together. This research also led me back here to memaquay's recent build, which I had followed, just not with enough insight to “what” he was building until now. By the way, a very good-looking canoe!
So a few questions for those who have paddled this canoe, how does it do in a tandem situation, how is the stability, any other considerations before I dive into this adventure, is there a better recommendation i should look at?
Thanks in advance for taking time to read through this.
Bryan