first time canoe building

I've been getting messages from outerspace telling me I need a canoe on top of my car. We have a small lake nearby, between school, where I work as a teacher, and home. It would be a lot of fun to stop on the way home, canoe to the island, paint a little, and return.

I'm interested in building my own. My dad built his first boat from a kit, and I watched my uncle steam teak planking using soldered coffee cans and an outdoor fire. I've got all my dad's clamps and all his woodworking tools plus my own.

I want to start on a project I can have success with ultimately. While I love the wherries and the Viking style canoes, lapstreg looks not a little daunting. I should start on an easier project. My concern is that I find plans for a craft that is stable and not tender, since I'm planning on transporting painting equipment as well as my all important lunch.

Any suggestions out there? Places to look, people to write...?

Tom I built a fiber glass canoe last year and am planning another this summer. I posted some pics at my web site Dave Conrad.

Try a cedar strip canoe.there are many kits available.Also first you might try picking up a copy of 'CanoeCraft' (it seems to be the 'bible' for strip building) to see if this type of project is for you. Good Luck.Jim.........

Thank you all for the good advice. I'll be getting CanoeCraft as soon as I can. There's something inevitable about this, but that doesn't mean I have to do everything without planning. Lumpy is not what I see in the future, however.

Tom in Northern California

Hi, I dont know if youve gotten any responses, but i am in the middle of buiding my own cedar strip canoe, I took a course through a very nice man . He builds beautiful canoes using cedar and exotic woods. If you are interested I could pass along his name and number and you can inquire with him, as to when he would be giving another course. You wont be disappointed. Norm