freighter canoe - diy??

[librarian]

I am a librarian in a small town.
I had a patron come in and ask me what I could tell them about building their own freighter canoe; specifically not an ocean crossing vessel; just a "little one".
The patron is British so I don't know if I understood him correctly; what he wanted etc. So I googled up freighter canoe and there's not much out there to choose from for plans, but this forum did make the top of the list.
Does anyone know of any resources I could pull up for my patron on how to build your own freighter canoe in the middle of the prairie?
Thanks in advance.

[bushrat]

place to start

Here's an online place to start:
http://www.greatdreams.com/canoe2.htm

Not much on "freight" canoe plans that I've run across in the past. But sure a lot on other types. Tappan Adney and David Gidmark wrote excellent books on building with birch bark.

This link below takes a while to load, but if you scroll down you'll run into some great homebuilt canoes:
http://www.selway-fisher.com/BoatBuilder.htm#ECT

Good luck,
Mark

[Paul H]

Look up books on strip built canoes, there are several that have some plans for freighter designs. No titles come to mind, but a bit of googling will shed some light.

[Alaskan100]

You can try www.glen-l.com there are all kinds of boat plans on that site. I don't know if there is any freight canoe plans, but I do know there are canoe plans. I belive it also has a forum for boat builders. Maybe they could help too.

[MEtracker]

I think what you are looking for when you refer to a "freighter" canoe is really known as a "Voyageur Canoe" or sometimes as a "Montreal Canoe". These canoes were used by the fur traders in Canada and are available commercially today. They range from 16' to 34' or longer (today). I suggest you do a google search under the two names I've given you.

I also suggest you go to the following three links: http://northwoodscanoe.com, http://canadianvoyageur.com/history.html and click on "click here for details. The last link is http://www.purewaterpaddlers.com/Voyageur.htm.

Good luck with your quest!

[Bill S.]

I have built two cedar strip/fiberglass canoes and its a long process, probably about 120 hours of work. I don't know where you are but source material may be a problem. There are some great books out there about building them and some come with a variety of plans in different size canoes. I can look up the names of the books I have used in the past if it'll help. There's a company in Canada that will basically ship the whole thing to you as a "kit" but its a little pricey. You do have the satisfaction of paddleing around in you hand made canoe.

[martyv]

Here is one I've been thinking about building

http://www.common-sense-boats.com/columbia_canoe.htm

You interior types might take a look at this one.

[librarian]

Thank you

Thank you everyone for your responses. I'll have to sift through all the info and all the links you've sent me. I'll likely be back with questions.

[TradBow]

Curious if you ever built one?

[martyv]

I still want to

I found an old fiberglass beater with a wineglass stern. It works great with a 10hp merc and lift. We just came home Sunday with a moose. I have a video running the Tanana with it...but it's too heavy, I think it must be close to 150 pounds. It's a real bear to horse over the beaver dams. I want a lighter one that is a little longer. I'm still looking at the 20 foot stitch and glue plans.

It depends on what you want to do with a freighter. I saw a big HB on our moose hunting trip. That was a lot bigger than what I want. I would hate to scratch it on the beaver dams and it looks heavy. Can one man lift those HB freighters?

I also got a good look at a 19foot grumman on the same trip. I've used one in the past but forgot exactly how good they were. That really is an ideal moose hunting rig.

Here's the video of running the Tanana http://www.wellcomemat.com/video/C16979C055

[TradBow]

Marty, I'm not sure what is a HB freighter.

Ya I put some dings in my solo stripper...cringed! You can coat the bottom to keep from scracthn the glass to much...cant remember without looking what they call'd it, was black.

Weight on a stripper is suprisingly light...well my two solo's have been anyways. I think if I can swing the funds (and find the time) try gil gilpatricks grand laker as a strip square stern. Little concerned about the trailer issue though.

[FamilyMan]

HB freighter == Scott brand, model Hudson Bay

Tradbow,

Here is the manufacturer's info on a HB freighter.

Marty, I'm not sure what is a HB freighter.

[martyv]

Marty, I'm not sure what is a HB freighter.

Ya I put some dings in my solo stripper...cringed! You can coat the bottom to keep from scracthn the glass to much...cant remember without looking what they call'd it, was black.

Weight on a stripper is suprisingly light...well my two solo's have been anyways. I think if I can swing the funds (and find the time) try gil gilpatricks grand laker as a strip square stern. Little concerned about the trailer issue though.

If it's light enought you shouldn't have to trailer it. It should be OK on a cartop.

It looks like the scott Albany would be small enough to horse over beaver dams, but it's still pretty heavy.

These larger canoes are great for long distance travel without using lots of gas. They are very efficient boats. But for serious hunting I think you want a cross between a canoe that can be easily portaged and a true freighter. It still needs to be able to haul a load.

I think your stripper would be ideal. I built a 14 foot stripper about 30 years ago and I still have it. It is very light...maybe 50 pounds.

[TradBow]

Marty my stripper is 14 also, solo canoe.

Man if someone had that HB freighter, we could make some forms from it.....anyone got one?

also found out a guy in the shop built a 20' stripper years ago, they can car top it, till they put a peetx liner on it after ripping the bottom out.

They also run it on a 20ish hp godevil! a short shaft had it bow up to high, the go devil kicked it down. Interesting stuff, I hope I can run it before winter hits. Dunno if they have the forms or not, and they dont have any plans anymore ugg. They said it works but not the greatest......

[KCB]

I've been studying plans for a 20 footer since last fall. I ordered plans for the Cinnamon 20 in stitch and glue and stripper. It looks good but the plans call for roving woven and isothalic resin instead of epoxy. The designer also calls for 1/2" strips and a 12' x 6" x 2" keel. The transom is almost 4' wide. He says it will weight 160#. I think it will weight much more than that.

I looked at the 20' Micmac plans from David Hazen. This is the biggest and lightest freighter combination I've found. It's 20' x 48" x 18" with a wine glass transom. The specs say 3000# capacity with 6" free board. (maybe in a calm swimming pool) The canoe is supposed to weight 100#. This would be a dandy to carry on top of a jet boat with a 10hp kicker to haul that second or third moose back to the truck. Run two or three 1" x 2" runners on the bottom with umhw and you could drag it over gravel and beaver ****s.

Gill Gilpatrick's book has plans for a 19' 6" x 45" x 18" Grand Laker. The drawings are on 1" grid paper. The directions instruct you to transfer the drawing to 3" grid. My thoughts are to transfer it to 3 1/2" grid. This would give you a boat very similar to the HB. Approx. 52" wide x 21" deep with a 23" transom. Increase the station spacing from 20" to 22" and you'll have a 21' + boat.