Uncle John

   Let me start this letter by saying the Pirogue is done and as you can see it is different then the rest that I have made. A lot different and for some good reasons.
   Length...... 16 feet 1 inch
   Beam ....... 31 inches
   Weight.......40 pounds
   Wood......... California Red Wood for the boat , 3/4 inch by 1/4 inch strips.
   Bow, Stern and Ribs ..... Cypress (Uncle Johns pirogue kit)
   Rails, inside and outside .... Pine lattice strips with red wood spacers.
   Glass.... 3.25 tight woven, inside and outside with numerous coats of epoxy.
   The seat .... Cypress and it is a removable, folding boat seat that can be used as a camp chair.  Designed by myself and Uncle John has the plans for it.
Construction time .... Jan 16 to March 21........

    Before you ask about the difference between the two sides of it......... I wanted the pirogue to be like life, a light (Happy) side and a dark (Sad) side to it but the middle ground had to be a pleasant mixture of both.
   To me this pirogue represents my life and how I have lived it, sorrow or joy , two strong emotions , with a good mix in-between which is the center section , The part that I have enjoyed the most.

  Now to regress a bit.

   I was thinking a while back about Pirogues and how they are made and all of the different colors they have been painted while I prefer the natural wood showing thru, a wood boat's beauty is the wood, anyway for me.

   I have paddled with canoe makers who do the strip method of building there canoes or kayaks but I have never seen a strip built Pirogue, so I was thinking it is about time someone made one.

   I ordered the kit from you which was the quick and easy part, the difficulties came in trying to locate enough California Redwood to cut the strips for the Pirogue and then make the Pirogue.
  After a long search (almost 8 months) I found the wood, not 20 miles from my house, and as they say .......The rest is history .....

  For a complete record of the construction you can click HERE. It is a long record , 6 pages, with lots of pictures (about 40) of the process and some chit chat between the members on my forum (I deleted a lot of the chit chat that was not about boats) but there is some good hints and advice in there.

Chuck.