Dugout Canoes

[Bob Smalser]

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Here posted separately so it's easier to find, I interrupted a class given by Saaduuts, a local Haida builder to take some pics of construction details in native Northwest canoes dug out of single, large Western Red Cedar logs.

The canoes are adzed....not burnt....into shape using craftsman-made calipers for consistent wall thickness....here in a 26' canoe about an inch to 5/4 on the sides and not much more than that on the bottom. Burning would destroy too much lignin to steam bend the sides without cracking.

Then the hull is wet down, filled with hot rocks, and water poured on to create steam. When the sides are pliable they are forced outward using thwarts...and the hot rocks also cause the hull to sag, depending on how it is supported....providing some rocker to the bottom for maneuverability, and shear to the top, aiding a dry ride in a seaway. One or more thwarts are left in the hull for support, although they aren't for sitting....paddlers kneel on the canoe bottom. In the above pic, the thwart is covered with a weaving.

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There are a couple of inherent problems in dugouts....the weak short grain wood in the ends, and no keel for directional stability.

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In the impact-prone bow, both a skeg and a two-piece stem are dovetail-keyed into the hull....the skeg for stability and the stem for strength. This stem was done with an exceptionally large, lower piece to correct a natural defect in the log.

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In the stern, less protection is used....only an applied stem...the hull is adzed into shape to form a skeg below the stem.

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And of course, all checks are secured using dovetail keys bedded in hot pitch.

[Charles McKinley]

Bob you are a wonderful and inspiring source of knowledge.

Thank you for your contributions.

[Ian Abraham]

Excellent story there Bob, neat to see how things like that are made.

You might like these pictures of a dugout canoe in NZ.

It's almost 120 ft long, weighs 12 tonnes and carries 80 paddlers PLUS 50 passengers. IT was built in 1940 and still used every year as part of the Waitangi day ceremoney.

This is a link showing it in the water with a full crew on board.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/Gallery/treaty/canoe.htm

My photos show the canoe on display, the carving on the prow and stern and some of the carving down the side.

Cheers

Ian

[Lou Morrissette]

Interesting, Bob. I attended a maritime festival in Hyannis, Ma a few weeks ago and there was a demonstration given by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe on Eastern dugout canoe building on Cape Cod. Their design used primarily burning as the tool with very little hard tooling used. The Northwest version appears to be more decorative and stronger I would think. Either way seems to involve lots of labor and patience.
Thanks for the post.

Lou

[Bob Smalser]

I once did a stint in the Sultanate of Oman, where among other things, I restored 19th-Century, lateen-rigged, teak Barkas (small fishing dhows) and other native craft as part of a crew working for their Naval museum near Muscat.

Up until the 1970's and fiberglass, local builders imported mango logs from India, which would be hollowed out as in your East Coast example.....but they would add one or two teak strakes to the topsides, building in some shear, flare and freeboard for a heavy but exceptionallly-seaworthy little craft. Woulda loved to have brought one home but they were just too heavy.

Local tribesmen would also lash together boats made of reed bundles for inshore fishing....would take about a day and they'd make several and rotate them, the ones too soaked to float drying out ont he beach while a dry one was used.

Sorry....no pics...before I started carrying around a pocket camera.

[Louis Bois]

Thanks for clearing that up Bob. In my earlier response to Jason, I couldn't quite remember the role of the "heated element" in the boat...it was actually the Haida method you described here (hot rocks on wet wood...steam to make the sides pliable) that was used...

Cheers.