CANOES AND BOATING STUNTS
How to Build a War Canoe--How to Build a Canvas
Canoe--How to Build an Umbrella Canoe--How Old
Shells Can be Turned into Boys' Boats--Cause of
Upsets--Landing from, and Embarking in, a Shell--How to
Mend Checks and Cracks
IN making canoes the Indians used birch bark for the cover, rock maple
for the cross-bars, and white cedar for the rest of the frame. We will
substitute canvas for the birch bark and any old wood that we can for
the rock maple and the white cedar. _Real woodcraft is best displayed
in the ability to use the material at hand._
David Abercrombie, the outfitter, some time ago presented Andrew J.
Stone, the Arctic explorer and mighty hunter, with a small piece of
light, water-proof cloth to use as a shelter tent in bad weather. But
Stone, like the hunter that he was, slept unprotected on the mountain
side in the sleet and driving storms, and used the water-proof cloth to
protect the rare specimens he had shot. One day a large, rapid torrent
lay in his path; there was no lumber large enough with which to build
a raft, and the only wood for miles around was small willow bushes
growing along the river bank. At his command, his three Indians made
a canoe frame of willow sticks, tied together with bits of cloth and
string. Stone set this frame in the middle of his water-proof cloth,
tied the cloth over the frame with other pieces of string, and using
only small clubs for paddles, he and his men crossed the raging torrent
in this makeshift, which was loaded with their guns, camera, and
specimens that he had shot on the trip.
After reading the above there is no doubt the reader will be able to
build a war canoe with barrel-hoop ribs and lattice-work slats. In
the writer's studio is a long piece of maple, one and one-half inches
wide and one-quarter inch thick, which was left by the workmen when
they put down a hard-wood floor. If you can get some similar strips,
either of oak, maple, or birch, from the dealers in flooring material,
they will not be expensive and will make splendid gunwales for your
proposed canoe. There should be four such strips. The hard-wood used
for flooring splits easily, and holes should be bored for the nails
or screws to prevent cracking the wood when the nails or screws are
driven home. Fig. 51 shows the framework (side view) of the canoe;
Fig. 52 shows an end view of the same canoe; Fig. 53 shows the middle
section, and Fig. 54 shows the form of the bow and stern sections. This
boat may be built any length you wish, and so that you may get the
proper proportions, the diagrams from one to five are marked off in
equal divisions. To make patterns of the moulds, Figs. 53 and 54, take
a large piece of manila paper, divide it up into the same number of
squares as the diagram, make the squares any size you may decide upon,
and then trace the line, 1-H-10, as it is in the diagrams. This will
give you the patterns of the two moulds (Figs. 53 and 54). While you
are looking at these figures, it may be well to call your attention to
the way bow and stern pieces are made. In Fig. 63 the pieces Y and X
are made from pieces of a packing-box, notched and nailed together with
a top piece, U, and a brace, V.
[Illustration: Fig. 53.
Fig. 54.
Fig. 51.
Fig. 52.
Fig. 57.
Fig. 58.
Fig. 56.
Fig. 59.
Fig. 55.]
[Illustration: Fig. 62. Fig. 60. Fig. 61.
Conventional bow, but made of barrel-heads.]
The other end of the same canoe is, as you may see, strengthened and
protected by having a barrel-hoop tacked over the stem-pieces, Y, X,
U. In Fig. 64 we use different material; here the stem-piece is made
of a broken bicycle rim, U, braced by the pieces of packing-box, Y, V,
and W. The left-hand end of Fig. 64 is made with pieces of head of a
barrel, X and U. The bottom of the stem-piece Y is made of the piece
of a packing-box. The two braces V are parts of the barrel-stave. Fig.
60 shows the common form of the bow of a canoe. The stem-pieces X,
Y are made of the parts of the head of a barrel, as shown in Fig. 62.
To make a stem from a barrel-head, nail the two pieces X and Y, Fig.
56, together as shown in this particular diagram. Now take another
piece of barrel-head, Fig. 57, and saw off a piece, A´, D´, C´, so that
it will fit neatly over A, C, D, on Fig. 56. Nail this securely in
place, and then in the same manner cut another piece to fit over the
part E, C, B, and nail that in place. Use small nails, but let them be
long enough so that you may clinch them by holding an axe or an iron
against the head while you hammer the protruding points down, or drive
the nail a little on the bias and holding the axe or iron on the side
it is to come through and let it strike the nail as it comes out and
it will clinch itself. To fasten the stem-piece to the keel use two
pieces of packing-box or board, cut in the form of Fig. 58, and nail
these securely to the bow-piece as in Z, in Fig. 60. Then from the
bottom side of the keel H, nail the keel-pieces firmly to the keel as
in Fig. 61. Also drive some nails from Z to the top down to the keel,
as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 60. The end view, Fig. 59, shows
how the two Z pieces hug and support the stem-piece on the keel H. Fig.
55 shows a half of the top view of the canoe gunwales; the dimensions,
marked in feet and inches, are taken from an Indian birch-bark canoe.
You see by the diagram that it is eight feet from the centre of the
middle cross-piece to the end of the big opening at the bow. It is
also three feet from the centre of the middle cross-piece to the next
cross-piece, and thirty inches from the centre of that cross-piece to
the bow cross-piece, which is just thirty inches from the eight-foot
mark. The middle cross-piece in a canoe of these dimensions is
seven-eighths of an inch thick, and thirty inches long between the
gunwales; the next cross-piece is three-quarters of an inch thick and
twenty-two and one-half inches long. The next one is half an inch
wide, two inches thick and twelve inches between the gunwales. These
cross-pieces can be made of the staves of a barrel. Of course, this
would be a canoe of sixteen feet inside measurement, not counting the
flattened part of the bow and stern. Now, then, to build the canoe.
First take the keel-piece, H, which is in this case a piece of board
about six inches wide and only thick enough to be moderately stiff. Lay
the keel on any level surface and put the stem-pieces on as already
described, using packing-box for X, U, V, Y, and Z, and bracing them
with a piece of packing-box on each side, marked W in diagram (Fig.
51). Then make three moulds, one for the centre (Fig. 53), and two more
for the bow and stern (Fig. 54). Notch the bottom of these moulds to
fit the keel and with wire nails make them fast to the keel, leaving
the ends of the nails protruding far enough to be easily withdrawn when
you wish to remove the moulds. In nailing the laths to the moulds (Fig.
51) leave the heads of the nails also protruding so that they may be
removed. Place the moulds in position, with the middle one in the exact
centre, and the two ends located like those in Figs. 63 and 64. Place
and nail gunwale, L, on as in Fig. 51, tacking it to the bow and stern
and bending it around to fit the moulds; tack the lattice slats M, N,
O, P on to the bow, stern, and moulds, as shown in Fig. 51.
If your barrel-hoops are stiff and liable to break while bending and
unbending, let them soak a couple of days in a tub of water, then
before fitting them to the form of the canoe make them more pliable
by pouring hot water on them. The barrel-hoop S, R, at the bow of the
canoe, is nailed to the top-piece U, to the inside of the slats L, M,
N, O, P, and to the outside of H. The next three ribs on each side are
treated in the same manner; repeat this at the other end of the canoe
and nail the intervening ribs to the top of H and to the inside of the
slats, following the model of the boat. Put the ribs about four inches
apart and clinch the nails as already described.
In the diagrams there is no temporary support for the canoe frame
except the wooden horses, as in Fig. 51. These supports have been
purposely omitted in the drawing, as it is desirable to keep it as
simple as possible. Some temporary support will be necessary to hold
the bow and stern-piece in Fig. 51. These supports can be nailed or
screwed temporarily to the canoe frame so as to hold it rigid while you
are at work on it.
After the ribs are all in place and the framework completed, turn the
canoe upside down upon the wooden horses--for a canoe as large as the
one in the first diagram you will need three horses, one at each end
and one in the middle. For a canoe of the dimensions marked in Fig. 55,
that is, sixteen feet inside measurement, you would need about seven
yards of ten-ounce cotton canvas, of sufficient width to reach up over
the sides of your canoe. Take a tape-measure or a piece of ordinary
tape or a long strip of manila paper and measure around the bottom of
the boat at its widest part in the middle from one gunwale (top of
side) to the other, and see that your cloth is fully as wide as your
measurement. Fold the canvas lengthwise so as to find its exact centre
and crease it. With two or three tacks fasten the cloth at its centre
line (the crease) to the stem-piece of the canoe. Stretch the canvas
the length of the boat with the crease of centre-line along the centre
of the keel; pull it as taut as may be and again tack the centre line
to the stem at this end of the craft. If this has been done carefully
the cloth will hang an equal length over each side of the canoe. Now
begin amidships and drive tacks about two inches apart along the
gunwale, say an inch below the top surface. After having tacked it for
about two feet, go to the other side of the boat, pull the cloth taut
and in the same manner tack about three feet. Continue this process
first one side and then the other until finished. While stretching the
cloth knead it with the hand and fingers so as to thicken or "full"
it where it would otherwise wrinkle; by doing this carefully it is
possible to stretch the canvas over the frame without the necessity
of cutting it. The cloth that extends beyond the frame may be brought
over the gunwale and tacked along the inside. Use four-ounce tinned or
copper tacks. The canvas is now stretched on every part except on the
high, rolling bow and stern. With a pair of shears slit the canvas from
the outer edge of the bow and stern within a half inch of the ends of
the keel.
[Illustration: Fig. 63.]
[Illustration: Fig. 64.
High bows framework made of packing-box and barrel-heads.]
Fold the right-hand flap thus made at the left-hand end around the bow
and stern and, drawing tight, tack it down, then fold the left-hand
flap over the right-hand side and tack it in a similar manner, trimming
off the remaining cloth neatly. The five braces, three of which are
shown in Fig. 55, may be nailed to the gunwales of the canoe, as the
temporary moulds are removed. The braces should be so notched that the
top ends of the braces will fit over the top edge of the gunwale and
their lower edges will fit against the sides. Give the boat at least
three good coats of paint and nail the two extra gunwale strips on the
outside of the canvas for guards.
When it is dry and the boat is launched you may startle the onlookers
and make the echoes ring with:
"Wo-ach! wo-ach! Ha-ha-ha-hack--wo-ach!" which is said to be the
identical war cry with which the Indians greeted the landing of our
Pilgrim Fathers.
The reader must not suppose that barrel-hoops are the best material
for ribs; they are but a makeshift, and although good-looking,
servicable canoes have been built of this material from the foregoing
descriptions, better ones may be made by using better material, such,
for instance, as is described in the making of the birch-bark canoe.
Old Shells
Where there are oarsmen and boat-clubs, there you will find beautiful
shell boats of paper or cedar, shaped like darning-needles, so slight
in structure that a child can knock a hole in them, and yet very
seaworthy boats for those who understand how to handle them. The
expensive material and skilled labor necessary to build a racing shell
puts the price of one so high that few boys can afford to buy one; but
where new shells are to be found there are also old ones, and when they
are too old to sell they are thrown away. Many an old shell rots on
the meadows near the boat-houses or rests among the rafters forgotten
and unused, which with a little work would make a boat capable of
furnishing no end of fun to a boy.
Checks or Cracks
can be pasted over with common manila wrapping-paper by first covering
the crack with a coat of paint, or, better still, of varnish, then
fitting the paper smoothly over the spot and varnishing the paper.
Give the paper several coats of varnish, allowing it to dry after each
application, and the paper will become impervious to water. The deck
of a shell is made of thin muslin or paper, treated with a liberal
coat of varnish, and can be patched with similar material. There are
always plenty of slightly damaged oars which have been discarded by the
oarsmen. The use of a saw and jack-knife in the hands of a smart boy
can transform these wrecks into serviceable oars for his patched-up old
shell, and if the work is neatly done, the boy will be the proud owner
of a real shell boat, and the envy of his comrades.
The Cause of Upsets
A single shell that is very cranky with a man in it is comparatively
steady when a small boy occupies the seat. Put on your bathing clothes
when you wish to try a shell, so that you may be ready for the
inevitable upset. Every one knows, when he looks at one of these long,
narrow boats, that as long as the oars are held extended _on the water_
it cannot upset. But, in spite of that knowledge, every one, when he
first gets into a shell, endeavors to balance himself by _lifting the
oars_, and, of course, goes over in a jiffy.
The Delights of a Shell
It is an error to suppose that the frail-looking, needle-like boat is
only fit for racing purposes. For a day on the water, in calm weather,
there is, perhaps, nothing more enjoyable than a single shell. The
exertion required to send it on its way is so slight, and the speed
so great, that many miles can be covered with small fatigue. Upon
referring to the log-book of the Nereus Club, where the distances are
all taken from the United States chart, the author finds that twenty
and thirty miles are not uncommon records for single-shell rows.
During the fifteen or sixteen seasons that the author has devoted his
spare time to the sport he has often planned a heavy cruising shell,
but owing to the expense of having such a boat built he has used the
ordinary racing boat, and found it remarkably well adapted for such
purposes. Often he has been caught miles away from home in a blow, and
only once does he remember of being compelled to seek assistance.
He was on a lee shore and the waves were so high that after once being
swamped he was unable to launch his boat again, for it would fill
before he could embark. So a heavy rowboat and a coachman were borrowed
from a gentleman living on the bay, and while the author rowed, the
coachman towed the little craft back to the creek where the Nereus
club-house is situated.
In the creek, however, the water was calmer, and rather than stand the
jeers of his comrades, the writer embarked in his shell and rowed up to
the boat-house float. He was very wet and his boat was full of water,
but to the inquiry of "Rough out in the bay?" he confined himself to
the simple answer--"Yes." Then dumping the water from his shell and
placing it upon the rack he put on his dry clothes and walked home,
none the worse for the accident.
After ordinary skill and confidence are acquired it is really
astonishing what feats can be accomplished in a frail racing boat.
[Illustration: Fig. 65. A Fig. 66. B Fig. 67. C Fig. 68. D Fig. 69. E
Fig. 70. F Fig. 71. Fig. 72. Fig. 73. Fig. 74. Fig. 75.
PARTS OF THE UMBRELLA CANOE.
A = Plank.
B = Rib }
C = Rib }
D = Rib } in process of construction.
E = Rib }
F = Rib }
G, G´ = Thimbles.
H = Plank.
J and K = Stretcher unfinished and finished.]
It is not difficult to
Stand Upright In a Shell
if you first take one of your long stockings and tie the handles of
your oars together where they cross each other in front of you. The
ends will work slightly and the blades will keep their positions on the
water, acting as two long balances. Now slide your seat as far forward
as it will go, slip your feet from the straps and grasp the straps with
your hand, moving the feet back to a comfortable position. When all
ready raise yourself by pulling on the foot strap, and with ordinary
care you can stand upright in the needle-shaped boat, an apparently
impossible thing to do when you look at the narrow craft.
How to Land Where There Is No Float
When for any reason you wish to land where there is no float, row into
shallow water and put one foot overboard until it touches bottom. Then
follow with the other foot, rise, and you are standing astride of your
boat.
How to Embark Where There Is No Float
Wade out and slide the shell between your extended legs until the seat
is underneath you. Sit down, and, with the feet still in the water,
grasp your oars. With these in your hands it is an easy task to balance
the boat until you can lift your feet into it.
Ozias Dodge's Umbrella Canoe
Mr. Dodge is a Yale man, an artist, and an enthusiastic canoeist. The
prow of his little craft has ploughed its way through the waters of
many picturesque streams in this country and Europe, by the river-side,
under the walls of ruined castles, where the iron-clad warriors once
built their camp-fires, and near pretty villages, where people dress as
if they were at a fancy-dress ball.
When a young man like Mr. Dodge says that he has built a folding canoe
that is not hard to construct, is inexpensive and practical, there
can be little doubt that such a boat is not only what is claimed for
it by its inventor, but that it is a novelty in its line, and such is
undoubtedly the case with the umbrella canoe.
How the Canoe Was Built
The artist first secured a white-ash plank (A, Fig. 65), free from
knots and blemishes of all kinds. The plank was one inch thick and
about twelve feet long. At the mill he had this sawed into eight strips
one inch wide, one inch thick, and twelve feet long (B and C, Figs. 66
and 67). Then he planed off the square edges of each stick until they
were all octagonal in form, and looked like so many great lead-pencils
(D, Fig. 68).
[Illustration: Fig. 76.--Frame of umbrella canoe.]
Mr. Dodge claims that, after you have reduced the ash poles to this
octagonal form, it is an easy matter to whittle them with your
pocket-knife or a draw-knife, and by taking off all the angles of the
sticks make them cylindrical in form (E, Fig. 69); then smooth them off
nicely with sand-paper, so that each pole has a smooth surface and is
three-quarters of an inch in diameter.
[Illustration: Fig. 77.--Umbrella canoe.]
After the poles were reduced to this state he whittled all the ends to
the form of a truncated cone--that is, like a sharpened lead-pencil
with the lead broken off (F, Fig. 70)--a blunt point. He next went to
a tinsmith and had two sheet-iron cups made large enough to cover the
eight pole-ends (G and G´, Figs. 71 and 72). Each cup was six inches
deep. After trying the cups, or thimbles, on the poles to see that they
would fit, he made two moulds of oak. First he cut two pieces of oak
plank two feet six inches long by one foot six inches (H, Fig. 74),
which he trimmed into the form shown by J, Fig. 75, making a notch
to fit each of the round ribs, and to spread them as the ribs of an
umbrella are spread. He made two other similar moulds for the bow and
stern, each of which, of course, is smaller than the middle one. After
spreading the ribs with the moulds, and bringing the ends together in
the tin cups, he made holes in the bottom of the cups where the ends
of the ribs came, and fastened the ribs to the cups with brass screws,
fitted with leather washers, and run through the holes in the tin and
screwed into the ends of the poles or ribs.
[Illustration: Fig. 78.--Canoe folded for transportation. Canoe in
water in distance.]
A square hole was then cut through each mould (K, Fig. 75), and the
poles put in place, gathered together at the ends, and held in place by
the tin thimbles. The square holes in the moulds allow several small,
light floor planks to form a dry floor to the canoe.
The canvas costs about forty-five cents a yard, and five yards are
all you need. The deck can be made of drilling, which comes about
twenty-eight inches wide and costs about twenty cents a yard. Five
yards of this will be plenty. Fit your canvas over the frame, stretch
it tightly, and tack it securely to the two top ribs only. Fasten the
deck on in the same manner.
When Mr. Dodge had the canoe covered and decked, with a square hole
amidship to sit in, he put two good coats of paint on the canvas,
allowed it to dry, and his boat was ready for use (Fig. 77). He
quaintly says that "it looked like a starved dog, with all its ribs
showing through the skin," just as the ribs of an umbrella show on top
through the silk covering. But this does not in any way impede the
progress of the boat through the water.
Where the moulds are the case is different, for the lines of the
moulds cross the line of progress at right angles and must necessarily
somewhat retard the boat. But even this is not perceptible. The worst
feature about the moulds is that the canvas is very apt to be damaged
there by contact with the shore, float, or whatever object it rubs
against.
With ordinary care the umbrella canoe
Will Last for Years
and is a good boat for paddling on inland streams and small bodies of
water; and when you are through with it for the night, all that is
necessary is to remove the stretchers by springing the poles from the
notches in the spreaders, roll up the canvas around the poles, put it
on your shoulder, and carry it home or to camp, as shown in Fig. 78.
To put your canoe together again put in the moulds, fit the poles in
their places, and the umbrella is raised, or, rather, the canoe is, if
we can use such an expression in regard to a boat.