Lazy Weekend Canoe — Final Shaping and Preparation for Paint

I spent the last week at Scout Camp. In fact, I probably should write about that, but what I really need to is finish this boat. Part of the process, at least for me, is writing about what I have accomplished. Especially since writing about the boat has been instrumental in helping me make decisions about how to build the boat.

The original Lazy Weekend Canoe is drawn with an optional center seat. I planned to actually build that seat, as I suspect that my canoe is going to be pressed into service as a troop transport more often than not. I have enough kids that, for now at least, I can’t really ever plan on going boating alone.

However, my neighbor Karl noticed that one of the thwarts I had shaped to hold the center seat was cracked, and so I spent a bit of time this weekend imagining what the boat would be like without the center seat.

I think that having the extra open space in the middle is going to prove more useful than a third seat. I’ve got a pile of small fold up chairs that my girls would rather sit in anyway.

Removing the center seat opens up a lot of space in the boat. Plus the boat is wide enough in the center that is probably unlikely that someone would paddle from that position. So I have decided to remove the seat, and I am planning on planing the cleats down that were installed to hold the seat up.

Another decision that I need to make soon is whether or not I am going to install the skeg. I spent a bit of time this weekend scarfing up a board that would be long enough to be used as a skeg, but I have not decided if I am going to install it or not.