There were big plans for the canoe I built in 1988. Cindy, my wife then, and I were living in Washington, D.C.; we had moved there for an internship she had been chosen for by the Library of Congress, and I eventually landed a job in the Smithsonian Institution. Before leaving our home in Seattle we had rowed the Inside Passage and even after moving to D.C., we still had a thirst for adventure. We set our sights on paddling the Missouri River from its start at Three Forks, Montana, to the confluence with the Mississippi at St. Louis, Missouri. The only chance we’d have for that 2,300-mile voyage would be before settling back to Seattle to begin careers and have a family.For the boat we’d use for the Missouri, I was considering something like the decked lapstrake canoes used by John MacGregor in the late 1800s. In my copy of W.P. Stevens’s 1889 book, Canoe and Boat Building for Amateurs, I was drawn to his 15′ x 30″ American Cruising and Racing Canoe. It was designed as a single, so I stretched the station spacing to make it an 18′9″ tandem. The house we had rented outside of D.C. was small and the basement was only a little larger than a 20′ square. It would be a tight fit for the canoe. The beam of the canoe had to stay at 30″. The only way to get it out of the basement was through a window that had an opening scarcely 31″ wide.I used Tom Hill’s Ultralight Boatbuilding as a guide to the glued-plywood lapstrake construction I chose over traditional methods detailed in the Stevens book. I had a handy source of materials for the strongback and molds. I was hired by the Smithsonian’s Museum of African Art as an exhibits specialist and was able to salvage birch plywood and lumber whenever we demolished the previous cases and platforms to clear a gallery for new installations. There wasn’t enough room to run the long lumber through a stationary thickness planer, so I put it on casters and let it run across the floor, propelled by the wood pushing beyond the outfeed table.
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Chris,
This is a great story about the legacy of boats, which can bind us to the past and bring us to the present through the twists and turns of life.
I recognize the scenery of the Sammamish Slough, from when I was being towed back to the launch site back in May. ;o)
The greatest impact of this story is the last paragraph. Having been married for 42 years, I was touched by your comment about your marriage. And having a son, I would also have built the canoe in preparation.
A beautiful story, Chris, and a beautiful boat. Those of us who have the bonds of water, boats, history, and loved ones are truly blessed. Paddle on, you and your family…
Beautiful
My dad and I built my first boat together 30 years ago. He’s gone now and I’m using some of his tools to build a boat for future adventures with my now two-year-old son.
I built a canoe in 1976 for which I had to first measure the kitchen window that it would need to pass through to exit our home. Man! A 30-inch width for a 2300-mile trip down the Missouri; that would be an adventure.
Lovely story. We lived near the slough for 12 years and paddled a blue Ranger canoe that launched a serious boat habit.
Far and away the best of the many stories I’ve read in the world of Small Boats Magazine. Clean and elegant, touching on many levels: marriage, children, small boats, and water—even flags.
Thanks
The Father’s Day editorial was great. So many great memories.
It is a tough business to build a boat in tight quarters. I usually build up to a point of finishing carrying my boat up the stairs and out the back door from my basement shop. There are 16 or so feet between my neighbor’s house and our back door. This wouldn’t be so bad except my neighbor has planted Barberry bushes along our property lines. So, once we reach our little back porch at the top of the stairs, we need to lift the boat vertical as to avoid the Barberry thorns. Then it is off to the rack in our garage and final finishing and graphics in my driveway.
Your comment about the wind along the Missouri River is absolutely true. I’ve paddled large stretches along South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. Through sections of the Missouri near Omaha the prevailing south summer winds can kick up to 25-30 MPH. Sometimes, if you stop paddling you will get blown upstream; a canoe is not the best vessel to paddle on the rivers here in the Midwest. Even kayaks can be turned around by the wind and the vortices from the wing dams.
I’m glad I switched over to Small Boats. It fits more in my area of designing and building.
Again, the Father’s Day editorial was very good.
Thanks
Wonderful account. Filled with plenty of warmth and heart…and wood.
Poignant and beautiful, so thank you. I live in hope of enlisting my adult kids in a suitable boat project one day, but having crossed the Pacific with them in a 32′ sloop when they were small (2 and 4) they haven’t developed a love of the water like their Dad. Que sera sera!
Your story tugs at my heart. Family is important, enjoy it every day.