Travels with Yakaboo

Click on any picture to enlarge it. Blog starts with the September 23rd post.

Every year during the second week of September, John Hupfield of Lost in the Woods Boatworks hosts the Paddle Rendezvous at Killbear Provincial Park near Parry Sound, Ontario, on beautiful Lake Huron. The Paddle Rendezvous is an informal get-together for people that enjoy canoeing, kayaking, and canoe sailing. Its a chance to camp out, meet new people, show what you've been working on, and see what others are doing. Nancy and I decided we would check it out.

From where we live, it's at least a 12 hour drive. If you don't get lost. The park is a few hundred miles north of Toronto, past the Muskoka Lakes region. We managed to take the "scenic route" through the lakes region and added more than an hour, but we saw some beautiful lakes and boats.

Arriving on a Friday evening just as it was getting dark, we checked in and picked out a campsite by the lake. Early the next morning, John Hupfield came by to welcome us, followed by Hugh Horton, who graciously offered to help me unload the canoe and take it down to the shore. We also met Eric Cloutier, who brought his speedy 16-30 racing canoe, Pam Wedd of Bearwood Canoe Co., who built the beautiful canvas covered canoe shown, and Skip Izon, an Olympic gold medal winning racing shell designer who built the Bufflehead for Hugh Horton.




















Nancy checks out Pam Wedd's 10 year old canvas covered canoe that still looks like new. The workmanship is amazing. Pam teaches canoe building in the area.

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Nancy tries out a sailing canoe for the first time.




















Kicking back in light winds, Nancy shows how relaxing sailing can be.

The good thing about canoes is that they have, well, canoe sterns, so there is never any transom drag.




















































Yakaboo II and Bufflehead at the beach. As you can see, there wasn't a lot of wind, maybe 8 mph. tops.






















The amazing, multi-adjustable seat from Bufflehead. It has triangular "feet" which allow the seat to be set at 3 different heights, and adjustable back rake.




















This view shows a good view of Bufflehead's leeboard, steering rods, and the width of the cockpit.




















The underside has several layers of fiberglass so that it can take the ground over rocks or even coral without damage.




















The park itself is stunningly beautiful, set on a wooded peninsula just north of Parry Sound. The park closes after Labor Day but they reopen it for John since this was the 12th year for the Paddle Rendezvous, so we had it all to ourselves. The weather was in the 60's and the water was still warm, but the insects were all gone. And the wildlife.... While driving down the Trans Canada Highway, I looked up on a large rock outcropping and saw a black bear, sitting there watching the cars go by like it was no big deal. A deer came right into the campsites. And the chipmunks were so tame they would come right up on your lap and eat peanuts out of your hand.




















Paddle Rendezvous organizer John Hupfield is second from the left. There was a very diverse and interesting collection of paddling craft, brought together at a very remote but stunningly beautiful part of the Great Lakes. Some day I'd like to come back in a larger boat and sail the lake for a few weeks.


We had a memorable time, the highlight of the year. The people we met were all a lot of fun, and enjoyed the whole canoe sailing atmosphere. Highly recommended if you like canoe sailing.

Launch Day

Click on any picture to enlarge it. Blog starts with the September 23rd post.


Filled with anticipation, my son Andrew and I carried the boat to the shore just before sunset on a beautiful sunny day. The long weeks of work are about to pay off.

I had left one of the leeboard mounts at home so only the right hand one was in place. Should be good enough for a test run.


The sail rig is simple but still allows lots of opportunity for tuning. I'm learning as I go along.


Time to get the boat wet. We donned our PFD's and put it in the water.

As a precaution, I lashed the rudder mount in place so that it wouldn't pop out of the mounting eyes. I also added a restraining line to the tiller extension so that it wouldn't get out of reach if I let go of it.

Off we go. The canoe is very light and easy to handle.

Winds were light and steady out of the west as we set sail.

The first sail ended early with a broken leeboard mount, but it left us looking forward to another sail the following day.

I drove home to pick up the missing leeboard mount, then reinforced both mounts with screws to back up the glue joints.

The next day, we were down at the beach bright and early, eager to start out.

The sails have a few wrinkles in them but they should work just fine.


Returning from the first run, we pronounced the venture a success.

I later improved the set of the sails by tightening the luff (front edge) to eliminate the twist in the upper spar. I also moved the leeboard bracket back so that the passenger could sit in front of it and use it as a backrest.

Back at the dock, daughter Jane climbed aboard.

The canoe heels a little when the wind hits the sails, then it stiffens up. The stability is impressive. I later stood up in the cockpit and it didn't feel tipsy under foot at all.

The canoe was an eye-catcher in the harbor, garnering many thumbs up and favorable comments.

I set a goal of completing the boat in three months, and I made it, just barely. Remaining items to complete are; install the access hatches in the bulkheads, and replace the pine masts and spars with lighter weight Sitka spruce.

Final Fit-out

Click on any picture to enlarge it. Blog starts with the September 23rd post.

At each mast step position, I installed two 4" cleats from West Marine, one for the downhaul and one for the halyard. The lug sail is very simple, only three lines needed (main or mizzen sheet is the third one).

The wave deflector was epoxied to the deck before the final finish was applied.

One the front and back ends I installed a bronze eye and a carry handle obtained from CLC.

Detail of the cleats installed on either side of the front mast mount.

I used machine screws with large diameter fender washers under the deck, and caulk between the cleats and the deck.

I ordered 8" Beckson hatches from Defender Industries and installed them into the two bulkheads.

The jamb cleat to the left of the mast mount will take the mizzen sheet, which will be cleated off most of the time.

On the lawn at the house we rented in Padanarum. I decided to get all the rigging done in one final push.

The head of the sails were lashed to the spars over their whole length. The foot of the sails were attached to the boom only at the tack and the clew (the lower corners).

A halyard was tied to each spar and run through a hole at the top of each mast, then down to the halyard cleat.

The downhaul went from the downhaul cleat up around the boom and back down to the cleat. No expensive hardware was needed, the only block used was on the boom, and that was about $10.00.



While all this was going on, a deer came by to have a look.

We're ready to take it down to the beach (in the background).

Rudder and Leeboard Bracket

Click on any picture to enlarge it. Blog starts with the September 23rd post.

To make the rudder mount, I epoxied together several pieces of 3/4" (19mm) thick mahogany. I could only find pintles to fit over a 3/4" rudder, so I had to notch the rudder mounts for clearance.

The two outer pieces of the rudder mount were epoxied to a piece of Douglas fir.

The resulting assembly was then beveled on the leading edge.

I'm very pleased with the performance of the Ridgid portable table saw. It folds up for storage, which is a bonus.

The trailing edge was cut to a full radius with the Roto-Zip tool.

The rudder construction is the same as the leeboards. Here, it's being covered on both sides with 6 oz. fiberglass cloth.

The hull was sanded, then given 3 coats of Minwax Helmsman polyurethane. I didn't like the gloss or the "warmth" of the finish so I added another 3 coats of Interlux Schooner varnish.

Here the leeboard bracket is being pieced together from pieces of fir. Again, I'm making it up as I go along.

To save time I made the masts and spars from pine closet pole stock. It's a little on the heavy side but very strong. I'll make proper spruce replacements later on.

I picked up the vintage Stanley plane at the Wooden Boat show in Mystic, Connecticut.

The leeboards after being covered with glass cloth and epoxy.


I glued a steering arm to the rudder mount and attached a steering arm with a 3/8 -16 stainless capscrew and a nylon insert nut, allowing free movement.

The rudder was attached to the rudder mount with another 3/8-16 stainless capscrew and nylon insert nut. It will be held down with a bungee cord.

Leeboards and Trim

Click on any picture to enlarge it. Blog starts with the September 23rd post.

To make the leeboards, I butt-glued some pieces of mahogany and fir together. The two woods were chosen to provide some visual interest. Since the boards will be glass-covered, I don't see the need to use pins or biscuits for added strength.

The rudder will be constructed in similar fashion.

The blue pencil line shows where the boards will be cut with the saber saw. I'm making up the design as I go along here.

I'm choosing long, narrow foil shapes for better efficiency at faster speeds. I considered the trade-offs of using one board or two, and decided to go with two boards for the added flexibility it gives to make adjustments for speed, load, and weather.

After cutting, I smoothed out the cut line with the sander. I also ran the boards through the planer to smooth them out.

The handles and bottom edge were rounded over with a cove bit mounted in the Roto-Zip.

I cut the leading edge at 16 degrees per side and the trailing edge at 6 degrees, then rounded all the edges with the random orbit sander.

I ripped some 1/4" ( 6.4mm) thick strips from a mahogany 2 x 4 to form the coamings. They have to be high enough to keep water out of the cockpit and low enough to allow someone to sit on the deck. These will also serve as a surface to lean against, and hide the edge grain of the deck, and the deck stringer.

The piece lying on the deck will be trimmed to match the curve of the deck and attached to the upper edge of the rear bulkhead. This is a cosmetic, not structural, addition.

The third mast mount was glued to the underside of the front edge of the cockpit.


While the epoxy set up, I cut the hole for the rear mast mount.

A piece of ABS pipe helped to align the rear mast step with the hole in the deck. Each mast step has a piece of solid wood under it to take the load of the mast. The masts will have a six degree rake.

The cosmetic strip can be seen in place at the upper edge of the bulkhead.

View of the third mast step.

I made some trim pieces for the mast mounts out of 1/4" mahogany. I'm trying to keep the trim pieces as thin as possible to keep the weight down.

View of the front mast mount.

The hull is just about done.

Finishing the Hull

Click on any picture to enlarge it. Blog starts with the 9/23/08 post. Your comments/ suggestions are welcome.

The bottom received a coat of epoxy and a good sanding. All the seams were filled with the wood flour/ silica/epoxy mix. The front and rear stems were contoured into a smooth curve.

When the bottom was completely prepped, I rolled on the 6 oz. fiberglass cloth. Three coats of epoxy were added to fill the weave completely. All the little lumps and ripples in the surface were then sanded smooth with the random orbit sander.

The deck was then sanded. I removed the brass screws that held the deck on, and filled the holes.

I designed a wave deflector in SolidWorks, to keep water from entering the cockpit. The parts are made of 1/4" (6.4 mm) thick mahogany. The included angle between the parts is 120 degrees, and they tilt forward at a 45 degree angle.

A pencil mounted on a spacer was used to transfer the deck curvature onto the parts.

No bandsaw? No worries!

A sabersaw mounted upside down in the vice was used to cut the curved 45 degree angle on the bottom of the wave deflector.

I really hated to cut through the deck, it looked so smooth, but the front mast step has to go there.

View of rear deck showing the filled screw holes.

The front deck. The beauty of the wood is starting to show through after a coating of thinned epoxy.