Plywood "log boats"

Reader "Edwin" left a comment on my previous post about Tlingit log canoes that I thought worthwhile highlighting here, since many of us don't read comments. He draws our attention to Applegate Boatworks of Veneta, Oregon, which, along with the usual boatbuilding services on conventional western-style boats, also builds canoes that resemble the large cedar dugout canoes of the Pacific Northwest. The corker, however, is that he builds them out of plywood, using the "taped seam" (a.k.a. stitch and glue) method. (In reality, it's even stranger: the basic hull is plywood, while the ends are solid cedar, so they can be carved to replicate the shapes of the originals.)

They actually look pretty cool, and the stated purpose is to give people some of the experience of the native craft at reasonable cost and accessibility.

Thanks for the link, Edwin.

Edwin maintains Dark Ages Boats, which I've only just begun to look at but which looks very cool and has some bearing on what we call Indigenous Boats. I'll be spending more time there and may report back in the future.

(Photo from the Applegate website.)

Great Tlingit Dugout Canoe

Here's a nice blog about a beautiful red cedar canoe in the Tlingit style, built as an educational project by a group of young First Nation people in the Yukon under the guidance of Tlingit Master Carver Wayne Price.

Nice job, guys!

Where to Get Your Canoe Fixed or Built

This link might come in handy to some readers: The Wooden Canoe Builders’ Guild.

According to the website, "The Wooden Canoe Builders’ Guild was formed in 1997 to serve the collective needs and interests of builders and restorers of cedar canvas and woodstrip epoxy watercraft and to foster public interest in and knowledge of such watercraft." There's a good list of members, with their specialties listed, some worthwhile articles on canoe care and construction, and an impressive description of the construction standards that guild members must adhere to when building canoes.