A VERSATILE and STABLE CANOE

The Anglers Day is a modern take on the classic Bob’s Special. She is designed with high initial stability making her a stable platform for those wishing to build a boat for angling, birdwatching or photography. Like the original, she has a fine entry and moderate rocker making her quick to speed and agile the water.

Builders of this canoe will find that we’ve kept materials requirements light. She has modest freeboard and low ends. This means she won’t kick up quite the fight in a wind, however she may not be the best boat for bigger water. Like many of our designs she’s drawn for backwaters, wetlands, bays and meandering rivers and creeks.

Paddling and Design Versatility

Plans for the Anglers Day include options for a solo or tandem seat placements. Plans also come with the option to build her with a hard-chine tumblehome. This option requires more patience when building but increases final stability somewhat. Regardless of building choices, lines below the maximum load waterline remain the same.

Bobs Your Uncle

The original Bob’s Specials were designed by the Chestnut Canoe Company of New Brunswick and sold to outdoors-men who were looking for a lightweight, stable canoe suited that would be used for a quiet morning on the water, either for fishing or simple relaxation. With time, her shallow-arch broad beam, and low windage made her a favourite of cottagers and families.  Notably, she was also a favourite Canada’s outdoor loving Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau.

In production by the Chestnut Canoe Company from 1905 to 1979, Bob’s Specials are now featured in the catalogs of more than a dozen canoe manufacturers and her lines have been re-imagined by most major sellers of canoe plans.

• Who’s Bob?
• Checking a Chestnut – Bob’s Special

Choose This Boat If …

The Angler’s Day can be built for solo or tandem paddlers, and is one of the most versatile boats in our line-up. That said, she is probably a better solo than tandem. Choose these canoe plans if you do most of your paddling solo, but require a canoe that accommodates two paddlers from time to time.

Click Drawings to Expand …
 
 
 

 Before You Get Started

Plans from Ashes come complete with all the details necessary to build a canoe but they do not include building instructions. If you are novice builder you will save many hours and benefit immeasurably from purchasing either of the following:

• For Stemless Construction, Building A Strip Canoe, by Gil Gilpatrick
• For Classic Cedar Strip Building,  Canoecraft, by Ted Moore

Materials

Start with 1/4 inch thick cedar strips. 3/4 of an inch is as good a width as any and full length clear stock will make stripping your canoe a whole lot easier. Her gunnels are either a hardwood, or if a builder wishes to reduce weight, laminated softwood strips (two outer and three inner) with an outer hardwood rail shaped to please the builder’s eye. Best results will be obtained if the builder can curtail the urge to use fancy marquetry, or exotic woods. A materials list is included with you plans, as are scaled drawings of the strong-back.

Stations

Unless marked otherwise stations are laid out with the centre station placed in the middle of strongback, and each one thereafter is spaced at 12 inches on centre from the previous. At Ashes we cut our stations from 3/4 MDF. The bow and stern stations are trimmed for stemless construction, an easy and elegant construction method that contributes to her minimalist lines. Plans have the outer stem profiles marked for those wishing to use hardwood stems.

The Tumblehome

Ashe’s tumblehome will cause some pause for thought for first time builders, however with a little patience she will go together with minimal fuss. Novice builders choosing to build the hard-chined versions included with some of our plans would be well advised to apply equal parts patience and good humour.

Building Light

A careful builder may wish to reduce the weight of their canoe by starting with 3/16 inch cedar strips. Keep in mind that you’ll have less material to start with and if not careful when fairing it’s easy to sand too far! Builders who hope to keep her light will also laminate the gunnels directly to the hull and use mechanical fasteners only in the ends and at the thwart. Likewise, seats will be attached to cleats glued and glassed to the inside of the hull, thus reducing the need for hangers and associated hardware.

Bryan Hansel has published an excellent article at Paddling Light which serves as thorough primer as to what it takes to reduce weight whilst maintaining structural integrity.

• Light But Strong – Building Cedar Strip Canoes for Wilderness Tripping

Fibreglass

The industry standard calls for 6 oz cloth. Builders wishing to match our advertised weights will start with 4 oz glass inside and out with a reinforcing layer laid inside and out in her middle third (on the bias). Likewise, her ends are reinforced both inside and out with two extra layers of 4 oz glass, 6 inches wide and also laid on the bias.