The new Cuiser was being planked up this last week. The first number of runs go pretty quickly, the three bilge planks take a little longer because each one requires some complex fitting.

But once the canoe comes off of the mold there is a lot of detail work required. The decks and cant ribs need to be made and fitted, The last three ribs at each end need to be tapered to allow for the outside gunnels to have a clean run to the stem, the ring nails holding the ribs to the gunnels all have to be set and the ribs ends need to be trimmed down, all the takcs need to be checked for tight clinching, etc, etc...

So now she's all planked up and ready for the interior to be sanded and cleaned up for varnishing.

But wait, I have the Boreal to canvas and fill...

A last vacum out of the dust prior to varnishing the interior.

As this canoe is being presented to Bob as a retirement gift from the congregation of St. John's Cathedral in Winnipeg, I thought that it might be a nice thing to bring it over to the church for them to see it, and for them to sign the hull prior to the canoe being canvassed.

The signatures and blessings imbue this canoe with plenty of mojo!

Planking, planking, planking...

I had some trouble taking the mold off of its pattern. I tried, off and on, for about a week to pry it off with no success. One day I just said "This thing is coming off today!" A dremel with a cu off whell made a cut across and and I peeled it off. A lot of the filler came off with it. No wonder it was sticking. It is scraping off quite well with a hardwood "chisel". All is not lost, but its more work than I wanted to do.

The pattern with filler as it looks now. It used to look so nice...

Its amazing how much the lighting can change in just a few minutes on the Canadian prairies.

Bob is learning by doing, that all of those ribs need some fairing before the planking can go on, and some linseed oil.

The Boreal has most of the bottom planking one and we're working around to the sides. The ends are left loose until its off of the mold.

The Cruiser with the ribs all faired and coated with linseed oil. She's ready for planking now, too.

The ribs on the two canoes. There is something about this stage of building that looks great.

The top canoe is the Cruiser. If it looks a little odd how the stem is sitting at the end, that's because this old mold doesn't conform to the shape of the stem that I use and needs a little jigging.