The Project

Building boats isn't a part of my heritage.  My family traditions beyond a couple of generations are fairly unknown to me, but I'm fairly certain that shaping wood into boats isn't in my blood or anything.  Acquiring the skills to travel through wild places is something I had to seek out on my own, I didn't have a family member well versed in wilderness travel, though I have two parents that have been willing supporters in most of my endeavors.  

When I met my wife Becky in college I learned a lot about her through the stories she told me about her canoe journeys.   Her journey into adulthood was marked through progressively longer wilderness journeys, and while she has paddled the far north chasing the melting ice to the Arctic ocean, she isn't a boat builder either.  Our daughter Jo isn't really a boat builder either, but at 20 months she is extraordinarily confidant and is busy exploring the world around her.  

In a month the three of us will be heading to the shore of Lake Superior to attend a  canoe building class at the North House Folk School in Grand Maris Minnesota.  With the help of Becky's family who are joining us from St. Paul, Becky and I will build a cedar strip canoe under the tutelage of Ken Koscik.  

This course takes us from start to finish in this process.  We will mill all the wood for the canoe, assemble the strips, lay up the fiberglass, assemble all the seats, thwarts, and gunwales--in 10 days. 

Becky and I signed up for this class last fall and have been saying ever since that this canoe we are going to build will ultimately be for Jo, a giant awkward possession that will make moving into dorms and apartments difficult.  While the canoe will be for Jo, the class is certainly for Becky and I. This will be a chance to spend ten days working together to create a beautiful vehicle that will take our family on many journeys.