Lapstrake Canoe Book

Product Description

Lapstrake Canoes by David L. Nichols

A lavishly illustrated guide to building a clinker style canoe with building plans for three boats. Everything that you need to know to build a light, strong, beautiful boat from scratch.

Lapstrake (clinker style) boats are built by partially overlapping successive thin planks down the length of the boat to make a gorgeous shape that is lightweight, very strong and stable. David Nichols makes ‘advanced’ boat building accessible to all ages and skill levels. He has written this book so that any handy person with focus can build him or herself a stunning canoe.

The book is thoroughly illustrated with colour photographs and line drawings throughout, taking the reader step-by-step through every part of the process. The photographs alone could teach you how to build a canoe. In addition David Nichols has written instructions that are clear and deliberate, breaking down each job into a series of simple tasks, telling where to watch out for common errors, imparting skills and good humour at every turn. He also includes free plans for three of his own designs, ranging from 12 feet to 16 feet, plus plans for making your own paddle and making a downwind sail.

This book is an astonishing wealth of information and experience at your fingertips. Please note that this is intended for people building a boat from scratch rather than from a kit.

Canoe Building DVD

This 105 minute long DVD shows a Nichols boat being built. David Nichols himself explains and demonstrates each step from the building of the frame to the sanding of the hull. This DVD is included with the Nichols Plans packages where they form part of the instructions.

Please note that this DVD will not help with the building of one of our stitch-and-glue kits – The Zen of Wooden Kayak Building DVD shows the techniques used in stitch-and-glue boat building.