The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Very nice work Randy , love the photos. I want to build that design , looks nice. To bad about the ice , but soon. We still have over 2ft. of solid ice on lakes around here, but the paddle is already to go.

To kneel in a canoe your feet have to fit easily under the seat. If you have big feet you need a lot of clearance to be comfortable. There is no reason to feel you would need seats to be very low in a Ranger as they are a very stable boat. I have always installed seats at 10.5 " . I made a jig ...

Did you wipe down the yoke with something different then the paddle? If the epoxy was the same for both there must be something else that has interfered with the hardening.

The main thing to keep in mind if you plan on scarfing all your strips is to match colour best you can. I always try and scarf two ajacent strips from a board and match them at a common end so the colour will match. Joints will blend in nicely as long as they are tight. The epoxy will magnify them i...

I would be tempted to use white cedar and a layer of glass on both sides. For what you describe , strength should not be an issue. If you wanted more strength you could use white spruce . It really depends on the power , 2-3 h.p should be fine I would think , I attach a 2h.p right to the gunnel on a...

oops! that is it " strips very easy "

The Endeavour is very seaworthy if you keep it within its optimum capacity. I don't know how big you are but I am 220lb and 6'2". I have yet to paddle in waves more than a couple of feet high, but have been impressed at how well it handles in high winds and two foot waves. This boat I built for...

I have glassed a few boats during the winter in my garage with just a 4500 WATT construction heater. get your garage as hot as you can , and if you can keep the epoxy warm , I use a poultry heat lamp. As long as you get the temp to at least 60 you should be fine, West /207 is very thick when cold , ...

One sugestion would be to leave the stem width the full 7/8 and use a fillet of epoxy to fill the remaining gap. All builders make mistakes , good builders know how to hide them.

Looks real nice Randy , good luck glassing , can't wait to see the finnshed boat , I am vert intersted in that design for a future build.

I practice self rescue every summer and teach it to my family. It is sad that so many people over the years have died because they never took time to learn something that only takes a few minutes to do with a little practice. Nice thing about strippers are that the entire boat is buoyant , easy to u...

Great work ! I really like the look of the compass .

To cut down on weight I think that you need to think outside the box. Trim adds a lot of weight to the total. If you use lighter woods there , a lot of weight can be cut. 3/16 " strips are as thin as I would be comfortable with cedar strips. My present build is with 3/16 " strips - and 6oz...

You should be able to find 20 foot boards living where you are. 6 boards 6 ich wide by 1 inch thick will give you plenty of strips. A smaller canoe 5 boards will do. The book says 50-60 board feet. The 6 boards I suggest will give you 60 board feet.

Nice boats Denis. How is that young fellow in the photo doing ? I will be in Peterborough for Thanks - Giving weekend , was wondering if the electric Launch would still be in the water then , would love to see it. Steve.