The Canoe Shop: Three Elegant Wooden Canoes Anyone Can Build

International Marine published Chris Kulczycki's "Kayak Shop" in 1993. The book includes complete plans and building instructions for three wooden sea kayaks for the home builder. The boats are beautiful and seaworthy craft built from marine plywood and epoxy using the "stitch and glue" method. Last year we undertook a new edition of that book due to its continued success and the evolution of the author's kayak designs. "The New Kayak Shop" will be published in September. Now Kulczycki offers "The Canoe Shop": complete plans and building instructions for three elegant and rugged touring canoes that anyone can build - a 12-foot double paddle canoe, a 14-foot solo canoe, and a 16-foot tandem boat. With this new book Kulczycki applies the successful model of the "Kayak Shop" to a much larger potential audience. (The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association estimates that 13.6 million Americans participated in canoeing in 1998, versus 35. million for kayaking). In style and organization, "The Canoe Shop" closely resembles "The Kayak Shop".It is a well-illustrated, user-friendly guide that walks the novice through the construction of the three boats, and simultaneously teaches boatbuilding techniques with wider application. In content it differs somewhat, as these new designs call for a different building approach. The canoes feature "lapstrake" construction, a traditional building technique in which each plank (or strake) overlaps the plank below. Lapstrake construction accentuates the lines of a boat beautifully, and many consider it the finest method of wooden boat construction. In the past, lapstrake boats had to be built in full-sized moulds and were beyond the skills of the amateur builder. Using computer-faired hull shapes, Kulczycki has been able to create boats that will assume their intended shape without a mould, and can be stitched together and bonded with epoxy like his kayaks.

Over 10,000 stitch-and-glue boats have been built to Chris Kulczycki’s designs. His plans have been published in numerous magazines and books. The company he founded has become the largest boat kit and plan manufacturer in the world. His designs have been licensed to a kit builder in Japan and are sold by distributors in Europe and Asia. Chris also taught boatbuilding courses at the WoodenBoat School and in other programs for 10 years. He is the author of three books and over 100 magazine and newspaper articles. He has been contributing editor to Sail magazine and a regular contributor to Cruising World, WoodenBoat, Sea Kayaker, and others. His articles have also appeared in Outside, Men’s Journal, and other magazines. His photos have appeared on a WoodenBoat cover and in interior spreads in Cruising World and Sail. Chris sold Chesapeake Light Craft three years ago to concentrate on writing.

The Canoe Shop arms you with complete plans and step-by-step instructions for building three graceful and rugged touring canoes, including a 12-foot double-paddle canoe, a 14-foot solo, and a 16-foot tandem. You needn't be an experienced boatbuilder to get the most out of this book. All that's required are a few common tools and the most basic woodworking skills. The secret is Chris Kulczycki's original LapStitch approach, which combines traditional lapstrake boatbuilding with the simplicity and ease of modern stitch-and-glue construction. With the help of 170 photos and illustrations, Chris walks you through the entire process for all three designs--from reading the plans to painting or varnishing your new canoe. Praise for The Kayak Shop <"Recommended reading for anyone contemplating going paddling in a kayak of their own creation."-- Sea Kayaker "This is a very useful book, clearly written, well illustrated, fully explanatory. . . . You will be sold on building your own wood kayak."-- Atlantic Coastal Kayaker

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