Spirit of Suwannee

sanded of most of her paint, the wood decking work begins.

The gunwales get wood trim. This is for support and looks when the deck is removed to just make it a regular canoe.

The job of decking a canoe is challenging.Since a canoe has mostly rounded sides and literally no square corners, getting things straight is tough. Fortunately, I love a tough job! The canoe will have outriggers, which will be fiberglas, and foam filled. The mast and parts of the outriggers will be bamboo,as well as the boom. The canoe will also be equiped with leeboards to slow the sideways movement in the water. This canoe is being built well, and I believe that offshore sailing is a possibility.......we'll have to see! In the meantime, I study, read, experiment, design and dream.....dreams are good.

This is the 'cabin' deck piece with the first coat of varnish on it. It'll look great on the canoe.