west epoxy plywood tank

[mike31154]

Thanks Steve. First I had to build the strongback and moulds from the plans, that took a while. Setting up the molds and aligning them on the strongback took a bit of time as well, you want a straight, true running boat. Same idea when you attach the first strips, they need to be bang on, once you start gluing & stacking them it's pretty much impossible to make any corrections. Worked on it fairly steady for probably a month and then ended up waiting for an order of the exotic coloured wood to make the Haida Raven inlays. Also had to wait a bit for the seats & thwart which I ordered from Ontario.

From the photos I have it looks like I started in May and christened it on Kalamalka Lake with a bottle of beer October 30th, 2005. Probably took a little longer than it had to since it was my first attempt & I wanted to get it right, no rushing stuff. Now that I already have the molds & strongback built, any subsequent build should go quicker. It's hard to describe the satisfaction you get on completion of such a project and the day you first get the bottom wet. Every build is unique and there's not another like it anywhere, even if it does come from the same plans.

Might do another some time, maybe even a kayak. I have the Kayak Craft book which includes the tables to draw up your own molds. That's a lot of work too though. The canoe plans I used are actually taken from a 15' design, but by spacing each of the 12 mold stations an extra inch apart, it becomes a very fine 16' boat. The plans include this information and the fact that it is still a true design.

I've owned two previous canoes, a Maurice 16' fibreglass when I was still in high school in Cold Lake & later a 17' Lund aluminum. Neither one of them paddled anywhere near as nice as my Bob's Special. If you're itching to give it a go, I'd be prepared to lend you my molds, although technically Bear Mountain Boats would be owed a royalty for each subsequent build using the same plans & molds. The strongback might be a little more difficult to transport to Kamloops though, it can't be broken down easily so you'd need a vehicle that can handle a bulky 16' beast.