Very nice forum, new member checking in

[woodonwater]

Hello All,

The name is Bob, live in north Florida and am impressed with the civility and helpful atmosphere you have here. I have some experience in building and soon will be putting together my first canoe. The project will be a gift to my Nephew and his family, he is eight years old and loves the water and outdoors. Perhaps some of you have recommendations? I am looking for a recreational boat for sheltered and calm waters and would like to build from plans. I am thinking along the lines of 17' and strip construction. Ideally the canoe could carry the family of three (all small in stature) and could be portaged by one. This may be a tough bill to fill?

Thank you for any input and nice to meet y'all!

 

[Dan Miller]

Hi Bob, and welcome to the WCHA Forums!

I wish I had an uncle like you! To be fair, my uncle did teach me gunwale pumping and the joys of cave paddling in a Folbot...

I'll let others comment on the longer canoes, because I am in the camp that believes families should be outfitted with a fleet of solo single- or double-paddle canoes.

There is a long list of plans available, most of which are cedarstrip here: http://www.wcha.org/canoe-plans/ - I suspect if you contact the sources, they will be able to advise very capably on the performance expectations of their designs. For general day-tripping and lighter overnights, it is hard to go wrong with a design based on the Chestnut pleasure canoes, for example the 16' Chestnut Pal. The book Canoecraft is a classic, with a number of very good designs. One of our members, who very well may chime in, reports very favorably on the Hazen Micmac design (Hazen's book is out of print, but still fairly easy to find through the used book outlets).

 

[Mike Darga]

Hi Bob, there is a Southeast Chapter that includes AL, GA, SC,NC and FL. you may want to contact. wcha_southeast@yahoo.com. The Chapter Head is Michael Grace, and I am sure his chapter can offer suggestions.
Good Luck,
Mike Darga

 

[woodonwater]

Thank you for the replies, I am still going through the list Dan posted and am learning a lot about canoes. I have sent a message to the southeast chapter and look forward to hearing from them. One boat so far has caught my eye, the Billington by Sandy Point Boatworks:http://www.sandypointboatworks.com/billington.html Anyone with any experience with this design? Still shopping, thanks again for the input.

 

[Dave Wermuth]

Hi Bob, I'm headin' to Fla panhandle soon with two canoes. One is for my daughter and is ---'glass. The other is a Penn Yan Scout that I just did. I'm meeting my Brother, who is from St Cloud, and delivering his canoe. we are going to paddle the Suwanee.

 

[woodonwater]

Hello Dave, Some great folks and gorgeous scenery ahead of you. You may already know but it's worth mentioning that the Suwanee is at a very low level and some areas are downright skinny. Here are some links that may be useful to you:
http://www.floridastateparks.org/wilderness/Outfitters.cfm
http://http://www.fws.gov/okefenokee/Honey%20Prairie%20Fire.html

Also here's a trip report of a paddle we did in July, not many pics but you can see the limestone riverbanks and root systems that are usually underwater. We had to walk the yaks over some areas, yes that is the river bed visible in the photos.
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1204136

Don't want to scare you, still plenty of beautiful water in the area but you may want to call ahead for a Suwanee trip. Hope you have a great time!