I’m In A Boat

Janell and I cherished the hundreds of steps adding up to the finished whole of our wood strip canoe. The result is a piece of finely crafted furniture like what you won’t find at Ikea. It is handsome to look at. But…a canoe isn’t just for looks. A canoe moves through water. How a canoe moves ...

Despite being terrified of capsizing and the thought of drowning at Willamette Falls, I conquer my fears, leaving my limbic system defeated. While fear is natural, I overcome it with regular reality checks.

What is a thwart? Why you don’t sit on it?

Janell wanted to cane seats for the canoe. It’s a popular topic of conversation!

epoxy is great, but spar varnish is essential to protect from ultra-violet

Janell and Mark take up where Matthew left off ten years ago

Matthew started work on the boat in April of 2013. His craftsman ship started the lines of a perfect canoe.

Obtaining Cane. Finding a name. Our Boat is Art.

We’re back in Portland after spending a week in Port Townsend working on a cedar strip canoe. There’s still sanding and varnishing to be done, but it really is a BOAT!

The epoxy panic from yesterday is for naught. We can sand it out. Today, it’s the church of the wooden boat.

This morning, we dread looking inside the boat. Last night was an epoxy disaster.

Amid sawdust and camaraderie, we celebrate a birthday, collaborate on boat parts, and overcome crafting errors.

Much of creating a boat is removing the boat (with sandpaper)

We see the inside of the canoe for the first time. Plus – Matthew is here!

The boat gets a dress made of fiberglass

Day two of working on a cedar strip canoe at the Northwest Maritime Center Boathouse in Port Townsend

Port Townsend is the center of the universe if you are going to build a wood boat.