Fig. 94.
The best material for this is thin shelving cloth and it must be made at least twelve inches long. Double your shelving cloth, and outline on it the pattern of the side of the canoe, which should be cut in brown paper; this must be quite straight at the upper sides, not curving as it appears in the drawing. Lay the paper pattern with the line of the bottom of the canoe at the fold of the oilcloth. Now take two long pieces of cane, such as is used for basket-work, and with a large needle, and very thick thread, lash each length of cane along the outsides of the boat from end to end, keeping the shiny side of the cloth outwards. A short thick tapestry needle is best, and the lashing must be steady and even, but if it is difficult to stitch through the cloth an awl or pricker can be used to make the holes before beginning to stitch. Now take another piece of cane and bend about one inch at one end and lash this bent portion to the side of the boat about one-third of the way along the "gunwale" where it is already lashed, and lash it over firmly to this on the inside of the boat. Bend the cane now across to the opposite side of the canoe and meantime tie tightly together the ends of the cane that is lashed from end to end of the boat, and set in this crosspiece so that it keeps the two sides of the boat apart at the right angle. Fix in the second crosspiece likewise, and then lash the open ends of the boat firmly together. The canoe should be rather wide and shallow, or it will be inclined to lie on its side unless ballast is added by weighting it at the bottom. If weight is needed the best thing for this sort of boat is one or two of the heavy lead buttons to be had at a tailor's for weighting garments; they can be lashed on with strong thread through the holes. Quite large canoes can be made in this way, and if a tight "decking" of thin waterproof material be stretched across at both ends from the crosspiece it makes a vessel almost identical with the Eskimo "kayak" which used to be used round the coasts not so very long ago.
A SHIP
Materials Required:—
A block of soft wood ten or twelve inches long, about three inches wide and two inches deep, nine post cards, three skewers or old wooden knitting-pins, a cork, a piece of heavy wire, dressmakers' eyelets, some small staples, fine string, a gimlet, a sharp penknife, small tacks, scissors, mucilage.
Fig. 95.
This is the simplest sort of a ship to model in wood; all wooden boats require carefulness in their modelling and balance. This can be made from six to twelve inches long, and in soft wood. Let your block of wood be about four times its width, roughly speaking. Rule a line up to center of your block to mark the keel and cut away from this with a very sharp knife to the curving outlines of the deck which must be drawn on the top side of the block. It would be impossible, in the space allowed for diagrams, to give details for modelling the body of the boat, but any boy can shape it if he is careful and observes, from pictures or actual boats or models, how to do it. When the body of the vessel is shaped and smoothed down with a file and sandpaper, take a piece of heavy thick wire, and bend it at either end and sharpen the ends into points with a file and hammer it into the keel; or, if preferred, a deep groove may be cut with a gouge and a strip of lead inserted. The rudder suggested here can be made either of wood, or of a double piece of tin with a piece of thick wire hammered in at the fold and left with one end projecting, so that it fits through a hole in the stem and forms a tiller. The rudder must have a hole pierced at the lower corner, and into this fix a small staple which must work loosely in its hole, and after the rudder is fixed in position this staple must be hammered into the stern of the boat. Figure 95 A shows the stern end with rudder fixed into place. Next cut a bowsprit of wood and with two staples fix it firmly on to the deck. Take three pieces of cork or three half reels, and glue or nail them to the deck—this will make a good hold for the masts. Then along each side of the boat at intervals fasten on a strong dressmaker's "eye" (for a hook) with its two small loops bent so that they overlap; the nail can be set through this. These eyelets are meant to hold the "stays" which keep the masts steady. Now take nine postcards, and about half an inch from the edge in the middle of each long side cut neatly a hole big enough to slip your masts through, with a strong needle, a piece of strong thin string or stout linen thread, knotting it with a large knot at the end. Lay the post cards flat so that they just touch and set the mast through the holes—a long wooden knitting-pin makes a capital mast—and the knob can be left on to finish it at the top. About one inch or more above the top sails make a slight groove round the mast, and round this bind tightly the threads laced through the cards, tightened so that each card bends a little; carry down these threads or stays now to the eyelets and fasten them firmly. Take another stay to the bowsprit and lash it down and carry it on to meet the front of the keel, and fasten it in with a tiny tack or a pin. Gum on small paper flags to the masts. This makes quite a good little sailing ship and it is not difficult to make.