On the middle of the deck stretch strips of ½" wood about 4" wide from the coaming of the well to the stem-and stern-posts, tapering the pieces as they approach the ends and resting them on the tops of the frames, to which they should be firmly nailed.
If you wish to sail, a stiff brace or thwart can be put in for the mast, with a block for a step.
One or more strips, 1" × ½", can now be placed longitudinally on each side of the deck and nailed to the frames.
Additional deck-beams, running from gunwale to gunwale, and having the requisite arch or convexity, can be put in if needed. A few brackets can also be put under the deck, reaching from the sides to the coaming, if needed.
A keel about one inch square, or deeper at the centre, if desired, can be fitted along the entire length of the bottom. It had best be fastened on with screws. If your boat is to be used in deep water only, you can make the keel 3" or 4" deep in the middle, rockering it up towards the ends, and the boat can be sailed without a centre-board.
Cover the deck with canvas, fastened with small tacks to the coaming and to the sides. The edges of the canvas can be drawn down over the gunwale for about half an inch, the edge being finally covered by a gunwale strip screwed from stem-to stern-post. A piece of half-round 7/8" moulding is good, although any small strip will do. Dampen the canvas and then give it at least two coats of paint. A wooden deck can be put on if preferred.
Canvas-covered Canoes.—To make a really good canoe wholly of wood requires a degree of skill much greater than can be expected of the beginner, or than is attained by the average amateur. Any boy or amateur can, however, with the help of canvas and with a very few tools and at slight expense, make some simple varieties which will serve the purpose satisfactorily. The canoe is sharp at both ends, requires only a paddle, and is light enough to be easily handled ashore. If carefully made, a canvas canoe will be strong, durable, and not difficult to mend, though repairs are seldom necessary if proper care is taken. If canvas of good quality is used, it will not be easily punctured or torn as one might think, but will stand an amount of banging around, running into snags, dragging over obstacles, and abuse generally, that would badly injure any but the best of wooden canoes.
The variety of designs for canoes which has developed or been evolved from the more primitive forms is in these days almost endless, and the number of types from which to choose is confusing. The purpose for which the canoe is to be used will help you somewhat in selecting the type—whether for paddling only, or sailing, or for cruising and general use, and whether for a river or small pond, or for the deep and rough water of a lake or bay. All these matters must be considered in determining the beam, depth, shape of the midship section, the draught, degree of sheer, whether to have keel, centre-board, or neither, and other points. This is too complex a subject to be treated in a hand-book on wood-working, and you can easily obtain the desired information, as well as detailed instructions for drawing the plans, from some good book on the subject.
A caution against making the framework too light and without sufficient stiffness may not be out of place. One frequently sees canoes, made by young boys, of such flimsy pieces and covered with such weak cloth that one is surprised that they can live in the quietest mill-pond, which is really testimony to the tenacious strength of a canvas-covered boat when properly made. A certain degree of flexibility is one of the desirable features of these boats, but they should always have sufficient stiffness to maintain their general shape in all weathers and in all waters to which a canoe is suited; therefore be sure to make a frame which will keep its shape of itself without relying upon the canvas to hold it together.