prospector 16
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HIEROGLYPHE
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:59 pm
prospector 16
hello im a newby here ..and i cant wait to build my first canoe ..i just have a couple question im thinking of building a prospector 16 ..i wanted a ranger 15 but i think ill be better with a 16 foot canoe and i read on another post that changing the size aint the best thing to do ..the prospector being just about the same thing as the ranger ill go with this one but i just wanted to intagrate a design i saw on the champlain the 2 ends are just to nice on this canoe do you guys think that integrating the 2 round end look of the champlain would be ok to do i tought it wouldnt change alot because this part of the canoe will not be sitting in the water ..this canoe will be mainly use to go down rivers with withewater ''the jaque cartier river in quebec '' i tought the higher the ends the better so it wont dive into the waves ... what do you guys think about my stupid idea hehe
Traditionally, the high ends were used to keep one side of the canoe off the ground when it was set upside down in camp. A tarp could be pitched over the canoe and to the side so one could sleep underneath. In the Champlain Highender, they're probably ornamental more than anything else.
I don't think higher ends will improve the dryness of a Prospector very much... it's the fullness in the hull near each end that helps make it a dry canoe, because of the increased flotation.
The Champlain is a very different canoe.... tippy, faster, lower-capacity and not as dry in waves because of less volume.
For whitewater, a Royalex hull will be far more durable than one made from wood and fiberglass. There are Prospectors molded from Royalex available out there... the Novacraft Prospector performs well in whitewater and flatwater, and has been a dependable choice in many extended wilderness trips.
Good luck!
I don't think higher ends will improve the dryness of a Prospector very much... it's the fullness in the hull near each end that helps make it a dry canoe, because of the increased flotation.
The Champlain is a very different canoe.... tippy, faster, lower-capacity and not as dry in waves because of less volume.
For whitewater, a Royalex hull will be far more durable than one made from wood and fiberglass. There are Prospectors molded from Royalex available out there... the Novacraft Prospector performs well in whitewater and flatwater, and has been a dependable choice in many extended wilderness trips.
Good luck!
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HIEROGLYPHE
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:59 pm
hey tanks for your answer ... i know a wood ans fiberglass canoe will not be as strong in withewater as a royalex canoe but i want the look and to main thing i wanna build it 
heheheheh im planning to put 2 layer of fiberglass for strenght and if there is any chance i can brake it on a rock ill just skip that part of the river i found on internet some cheap canoe that goes for 300$ ill just use that if the river is way to low
the end of the canoe that i want to change for the champlain look i just want to get the look basicly the canoe will mainly stay the same maybe a little higher but the hull will stay the same just the round ends im gonna do this as a winter project but i dont think ill be able to wait this long i cant wait to begin :twisted evil
heheheheh im planning to put 2 layer of fiberglass for strenght and if there is any chance i can brake it on a rock ill just skip that part of the river i found on internet some cheap canoe that goes for 300$ ill just use that if the river is way to low the end of the canoe that i want to change for the champlain look i just want to get the look basicly the canoe will mainly stay the same maybe a little higher but the hull will stay the same just the round ends im gonna do this as a winter project but i dont think ill be able to wait this long i cant wait to begin :twisted evil
prospector shape
The ends of the prospector are plenty deep for handling waves. The fact that they are straighter, not rounded, actually allows the hull to have flare( no tumblehome) all the way out to the end, making it very buoyant. The hull lifts through waves very nicely. The prospector has a long history of carrying folks and cargo down and UP Canada's northern rivers. It is a well proven design. I would highly recommend it unmodified for your purpose.
As for strength. Remember that fiberglass needs to added to the INside of the hull to prevent punctures and the OUTside for abrasion resistance. The level of whitewater you can do with your wood strip canoe depends on your skill. I've seen woodstrip canoes, prototypes for royalex production, run class 4 rapids on the Chattooga River in GA/SC. They were paddled by a very skilled whitewater athlete.
Take a substantial repair kit with resin and glass, sandpaper, maybe even some short pieces of strips. Always consider portaging. Never over-estimate your skill.
As for strength. Remember that fiberglass needs to added to the INside of the hull to prevent punctures and the OUTside for abrasion resistance. The level of whitewater you can do with your wood strip canoe depends on your skill. I've seen woodstrip canoes, prototypes for royalex production, run class 4 rapids on the Chattooga River in GA/SC. They were paddled by a very skilled whitewater athlete.
Take a substantial repair kit with resin and glass, sandpaper, maybe even some short pieces of strips. Always consider portaging. Never over-estimate your skill.
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HIEROGLYPHE
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:59 pm
I don't see why you couldn't raise the ends while still keeping the prospector full in the ends and get the look of a traditional Canadian canoe with the performance of the prospector. Nobody has convinced me that it can't be done yet.
I made a few changes to my Hiawatha, some intentional and some by ignorance, and in the end I think the boat will work just fine. I added a strip all around to the depth on purpose. I lengthened the ends from the last station mold to the end of the outer stems through trying something different that I would most likely not try again. Maybe next time I'll go stemless like the Gilpatrick method. and beef up the end with an air tank and extended deck.
I like the rounded end look though.
I made a few changes to my Hiawatha, some intentional and some by ignorance, and in the end I think the boat will work just fine. I added a strip all around to the depth on purpose. I lengthened the ends from the last station mold to the end of the outer stems through trying something different that I would most likely not try again. Maybe next time I'll go stemless like the Gilpatrick method. and beef up the end with an air tank and extended deck.
I like the rounded end look though.
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HIEROGLYPHE
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:59 pm
its exactly the kind of look i wanted to give to my canoe even what you did with the colors of your strips Thanks HIEROGLYPHE.
The white strips are from a 16 foot 2X6 I found in my basement left over from when they built by house. So I can say with some certainty that it is most likely SPF (Spruce, Pine, or Fir).
The thinner light red strips are redwood. The redwood 1X6 was only about 3/4 inch thick to begin with, while most of the other 1 inch boards were about 7/8 inch to start with. The redwood also seemed to turn almost black where my Elmer's Probond Interior/Exterior wood glue cured on it leaving a dark glue line reminiscent of resorcinol glue. The glue said it could be cleaned up with water, but I found that just thinned it to where it soaked into the wood leaving deep staining especially noticeable on the redwood which turned dark when the glue cured. I found it best to just wipe the excess glue off with a dry paper towel or to just let it be and sand it off after it hardened. Getting the glue wet just made the mess soak deep into the wood. The darker reddish strips were from a 14 foot board labeled as mahogany. Since my mahogany board was not long enough to make full length strips I used it for doing the football for a stronger bottom and used some shorter scraps left over from that on the built up bow and stern rises. Both the mahogany and redwood boards were almost completely free of knots or other blemishes, so I was able to use every single strip. The redwood was very soft and was easily flexible. While the mahogany is a hardwood and is not nearly as flexible as the WRC (Western Red Cedar) and redwood, and was also stiffer than my SPF strips.
Most of my strips are WRC. I tried to pick the darker boards with as few knots as possible at my Kansas lumber yard. Our selection of wood here on the prairie may not be the greatest since most all of it has to be shipped in from places where there are trees. Due to how I will have to get my canoe out through a basement escape window well, I was limited to building a canoe of less than 16 feet. Fortunately this means I could get full length strips out of the readily available and inexpensive 16 foot boards at the lumber yard.
I seem to be mildly allergic to the cedar dust. So if I build another canoe now that I am set up to build them, I may avoid using any cedar for my own comfort. It's a long and sad story, but my outer stems are laminated out of red oak from Lowe's home improvement store, and my inner stems were cut out of a 1 inch thick laminated aspen board (no bending).
It is amazing how much color variation there is within the cedar. It ranges from white to yellow to red to dark brown. and some strips have a lot of variation within themselves.
The mahogany that I got has a very open and non distinct grain and uniform color, so it is not as exciting as some of the other wood, but I liked the color and lack of knots.
The white strips are from a 16 foot 2X6 I found in my basement left over from when they built by house. So I can say with some certainty that it is most likely SPF (Spruce, Pine, or Fir).
The thinner light red strips are redwood. The redwood 1X6 was only about 3/4 inch thick to begin with, while most of the other 1 inch boards were about 7/8 inch to start with. The redwood also seemed to turn almost black where my Elmer's Probond Interior/Exterior wood glue cured on it leaving a dark glue line reminiscent of resorcinol glue. The glue said it could be cleaned up with water, but I found that just thinned it to where it soaked into the wood leaving deep staining especially noticeable on the redwood which turned dark when the glue cured. I found it best to just wipe the excess glue off with a dry paper towel or to just let it be and sand it off after it hardened. Getting the glue wet just made the mess soak deep into the wood. The darker reddish strips were from a 14 foot board labeled as mahogany. Since my mahogany board was not long enough to make full length strips I used it for doing the football for a stronger bottom and used some shorter scraps left over from that on the built up bow and stern rises. Both the mahogany and redwood boards were almost completely free of knots or other blemishes, so I was able to use every single strip. The redwood was very soft and was easily flexible. While the mahogany is a hardwood and is not nearly as flexible as the WRC (Western Red Cedar) and redwood, and was also stiffer than my SPF strips.
Most of my strips are WRC. I tried to pick the darker boards with as few knots as possible at my Kansas lumber yard. Our selection of wood here on the prairie may not be the greatest since most all of it has to be shipped in from places where there are trees. Due to how I will have to get my canoe out through a basement escape window well, I was limited to building a canoe of less than 16 feet. Fortunately this means I could get full length strips out of the readily available and inexpensive 16 foot boards at the lumber yard.
I seem to be mildly allergic to the cedar dust. So if I build another canoe now that I am set up to build them, I may avoid using any cedar for my own comfort. It's a long and sad story, but my outer stems are laminated out of red oak from Lowe's home improvement store, and my inner stems were cut out of a 1 inch thick laminated aspen board (no bending).
It is amazing how much color variation there is within the cedar. It ranges from white to yellow to red to dark brown. and some strips have a lot of variation within themselves.
The mahogany that I got has a very open and non distinct grain and uniform color, so it is not as exciting as some of the other wood, but I liked the color and lack of knots.