Skin-on-Frame Canoe

Since I was a teenager, I've wanted to build my own canoe. For twenty years, I researched, bought plans, and got half-started but never finished. Then in the fall of 2024,  I declared I would build a boat for a family trip down our childhood river. I built this first canoe in a month of working nights and weekends in my too-small garage, learning, fixing, and ultimately completing the canoe only a few days before we set out on the water. 

This skin-on-frame solo canoe showcases how the choice of material enhances the experience of the wilderness. Clearly distinct from its wild surroundings, this handmade canoe nonetheless feels like a natural extension of them, like a golden autumn leaf floating down a river. These material choices represent a halfway point between natural and industrial, as the ballistic nylon shell covering the bent wood frame merges technological achievements in material science supported by natural materials underneath, and represents a significantly less non-organic material usage than modern fiberglass or metal canoes.

Based on Cape Falcon Kayak's "66" Canoe, this boat is made from bent-laminated cherry, steam-bent oak, ballistic nylon, and natural dyes.