The Canvas-Covered Cedar Canoe
The canvas-covered cedar canoe, when rightly made of the best material, is by all odds the best paddling craft afloat, being strong and light, with a hull so smooth that it is swift to paddle, while the mode of construction makes a very stiff craft, which will not warp or twist out of shape. Moreover, it will stand a vast amount of hard usage and abuse, while repairs are quickly and neatly done by the stream side. In the making of a first-class canoe of this type, the ribs are first steamed and then bent and fitted over a solid form; cedar being used for the ribs and planking; spruce for the gunwales, and white ash, or oak, for the stems and thwarts. In a canoe built according to my instructions, each plank runs to the full length of the craft and all are beveled and lapped together, thus making a perfectly smooth and almost water-tight canoe, before the canvas is cemented on its surface. The canvas is thoroughly waterproofed before it is put on, then it is drawn tightly over the planking, and several coats of filler and the final finish of paint are applied, after which it is rubbed down.
The well-made canvas-covered canoe is, if properly designed, a pretty good facsimile of the representative Indian model in that it possesses all the good points of the birch-bark canoe, but is more substantially constructed, of better and more durable material, and more finely finished. In making the selection, it is necessary to pay a fair price to obtain a good craft, and while various manufacturers supply canoes of similar types at different prices, some of them are so inferior that they will scarcely stand a season’s use. Of course, the use to which a canoe is put will influence the selection. If the craft is wanted for long service on hunting and fishing trips, a high-grade canoe of plain finish is the logical choice. If the canoe is for club use, a highly finished craft with mahogany trimmings may be preferred. A canoe for occasional use on some quiet lake or small stream may be selected from the cheaper kinds, which will, no doubt, answer every purpose. However, most manufacturers list what they call an “A” and a “B” grade. The “A” grade provides selected-cedar ribs and planking; oak for gunwales, stems, thwarts and seats selected from the finest material, and the finish the best that can be procured, while the “B” grade is identical in model, canvas and paint, but the material not quite so clear or free from minor defects, though for all practical purposes it will render as much service and give fully as much satisfaction as the first, or “A,” grade. A little saving may be made by selecting the second-grade canoe, having most of the money invested in the canoe and not so much in the finer finishings. The ordinary construction provides for the ordinary solid topwale, but the open gunwale is sometimes preferred, because the openings make washing easy, all sand and dirt running out freely between the wales. This construction detail is supplied by most manufacturers, when specified, at a slight additional cost.
The Important Parts of a Canoe, Giving Names for the Information of the Novice