I am thinking about another prospector this year, or else something for just cruising local lakes. Where do you guys get your plans? Should we consider some type of passing around of plans?

I am going to order the plans for a 38 special from Northwest... however with my size they suggested that I increase the plans another 4% and increase the space between the stations to 12.5 inches to increase the length to 16.5 ft. I am 6'5 and 295 lb and need the extra for gear and such. The Merlin 160 would be fine just for me, but for extra gear for a week or more they suggested I upsize it a little.

Bruce

Just finished another Northwest Cruiser. May do a prospector boat or another solo, a modified 38 Special.
CB

I'm building a Bob's Special. I got some plans from a guy on Craigslist who decided not to build it. I am stretching it out to 16 ft. by spreading the stations an extra inch. The plans are Bear Mountain, but it looks like they were actually ordered from Newfound. They must have been distributors for Bear Mountain at the time.

-Nick

Bruce - if you do a 38 Special just be mindful that there is NO rocker whatsoever in that keel. Goes right from the bottom of the bow dead straight to the stern.

When you put in a camping load it is difficult to turn. It's not like a river canoe at all. If you typically paddle hit-n-switch though it may be just fine.

My next build will probably be a Freedom 17ft. It has some rave reviews from a guy I know who lives on Lake Superior (Grand Marais) and paddles it frequently in the BWCA.

38 special from northwest canoe. I wanted a no rocker canoe cuz my J stroke sucks!

I am just one of those hit and switch or hit and miss paddlers... I do not worry about a J-Stroke, only time I paddle on one side is if the wind forces me to. And a canoe with no rocker is no problem since it will be used primarily on lakes anyway, my SR Q 18.5 has 2 inches, my Wenonah Wilderness has 1.25 inches, so a canoe that would track good and not impossible to turn would be no problem... I like the looks of it too. I looked at the Freedom Solo 17, but liked the 38 special better.

Bruce

I built a 38 Special. I liked it a lot.

Concerning passing arround plans, I'm not sure what is legal. I know with some the purchase of the plans allows you to build one canoe. If you want to build another you're suppose to buy another set of plans. Of course the second is easier because you already have your strongback and forms and you don't really need the plans. It just acts as a license to build another.

The 38 Special I built was that way, but I bought it directly from Bruce Kunz. I don't know what Northwest Canoe's policy is.

I made a Wee Lassie where I created my own plans from chart points.

Another I got from a cheap little book called "Building the Strip Method" (I think). I got it from Canoe/Kayak Magazine years ago. Anyway, they had a design I built called "The Tradition". Great canoe!!! It was like a narrower and longer Prospector -- 17' long and 33" wide.

Bumabu and Bruce. You're welcome to go look around on my build page for the 38 Special to see how Chris and I did things. Just keep in mind it was pure learning curve. It was all rolling bevel and staples, and some really cool clamping with PVC pipes! I shamelessly borrowed (swiped) a technique for making cherry and ash gunnels.

Shoot - better yet if you are ever in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area give me a heads up and you can take it for a paddle.

Still tossing up a prospector upped to 17-18' or Chaa Creek by bear mountain. Redbird was my first love, but maybe not quite as practical, especially for first try at building a strip. I've seen several stages of process, but only "hung out" and helped before.

Woodbender, I would love to paddle it if i ever get out that way, thanks a lot! truth be told though, I will prolly have mine built before i get there. Do you find turning to be that difficult not having any rocker?

Bumabu - the turning is different. And there are some things to be mindful of.

Placement of the seat should NOT be done exactly amidships. We had ours about 6" in back of center and still I am seriously considering moving it back further. Why? Because it weathercocks a little more than I like to see. In a crosswind the back end tends to go with the wind so that tells me the seat is not centered according to the canoe's balance point.

The balance point is different because the hull is asymmetrical (it's a tad wider in back that the front - like a pear).

Because there is no rocker it is sometimes easier to turn by "heeling" it over a tad. This can be ticklish to a person not familiar with the handling of the 38. Some people think it feels a little tender and it feels like it wants to tip. But when I am kneeling in the bottom and slightly heeled over it turns just fine.

Slightly heeled over creates your own rocker so to speak.

Chris had some difficulty with it on Crab Lake this summer. But it may have been a weight distribution issue in the back end. The entry and exit lines are nice and graceful but the back end on ours should have had more "swoop" and not as much like a right angle. The back end functions like a fixed rudder the way we built it.

I will modify that on the next build. But definitely I am modifying the placement of the seat on the existing 38.

I have designed a cedar sliding seat which i will be mounting front edge 6 inches behind balanced center, it will have 13 inches of rear slide space, for when i pack kid, dog or gear in front.

The plans I bought from Bruce Kunz calls for the seat of the 38 Special to be 6" aft of center. However!!! That is the front of the seat, NOT the center of the seat. The front edge of the seat is always used for seat placement. That may not be intuitive. So whenever placing a seat always use the front edge as your marking spot.

If you want a seat centered, it should be the front edge that is center. 6 inches aft? The front edge should be 6" back.

If you want both the bow and stern seats the same distance from center, the measurement is from the center of the canoe to the front edge of each seat.

FYI..

to those of you thinking about a 38 special or Merlin, Dennis at Northwest Canoe has designed a new solo with differential rocker to address the concerns you have regarding turning.

Look at the lower right of this newsletter and you'll see more information on it.

I have already built a cedarstrip so I decided to try something different. I'm building a stitch-and-glue style solo canoe this winter. No forms to build and should go together much quicker. Not as graceful or as beautiful as a stripper (hee hee) but should make a good boat.

So has anybody here built a 17ft Freedom from Canoecraft by Ted Moores?
I've generated station forms from my CAD program and I'm going to cut those out in the Spring most likely.

But I was just curious to hear if anyone had actually built one here.

Picked up the plans for a Winisk by Winters. 17ft 6in, asymetrical hull with differential rocker. Getting ready to start cutting forms.
How have some of the offseason projects come along?
CB

We just finished planking the hull on our fifth canoe...a 17'6" Redbird from Bear Mountain.

Now to find the time to start the sanding...

Started setting up my strongback for the Freedom 17 footer by Steve Killing (Shown in Canoecraft). I'll be steaming up the stems here pretty quick. I'll do inner stems this time around but not outer stems. I like the clean lines of a finger joint at the bow and stern. This will replace the outer stems. I'm sure there are pros and cons but I did it this way on the 38 Special (now called the Merlin 160) and it really turned out a fine entry line in the water.

I'm not settled on how the bottom (football) is going to get filled in. We did parallel strips from the keel to the curve of the bilge last time. I briefly considered a herringbone for the bottom but the Freedom's keel doesn't lend itself to that method of construction.

Anybody got some great brainstorming ideas for the bottoms? Any pics?

(keep it family rated please) :)

woodbender -- for the football, why not just do it the regular way?

eglath - I'm rebellious by nature? I even wear my pants backwards (well no - not really).

From reading Canoecraft they propose to build the bottom (football) "past" the keel line (in the typical curved pattern) and cut it back to the keel center line. I might still do that, I'm just curious who else has done what on the football area.

I guess I'm looking to find alternate football area designs that other builders had done.

we've done the football the way they describe it in the book with both a stapled and a staple-less design. i can imagine doing it that way with beveled planks...but not without staples (we use bead and cove) -- that would seem to be a nightmare...

I am beginning my second "Prospector" canoe using plans from Carrying Place Canoe & Boat works. I worked on my first one for most of 2009 and launched it on New Years Day 2010.

I am glassing the inside of my Freedom 17-9 tomorrow morning. I started in September mostly following the Canoecraft directions. For the football I cut the centerline and matched the bevel. No holes in this boat. It has gone well for a first canoe, and I can't wait to start my second!

Nice boat!

Wables that is coming along verrrrry nice!. I'm doing my Freedom 17 to be stapless as well but the Michigan winter has put my garage workshop on hold. I like how yours is turning out.

Woodbender,

Thanks! I know the feeling...I waited for 6 years to build this as I didn't have a heated shop either. I look forward to following your Freedom build over at Bear Mountain forums.

they are addictive, you cant build just one.