A FAST AND SIMPLE DAY BOAT for TWO or MORE

The Ashes Tandem Day is quick to come up to speed, she’s maneuverable, and she’s beautiful.

We designed her for the kind of paddling we do here in Southwest Ontario; where sometimes you’re carrying your boat through a cornfield or tangle of brambles to get to the put-in. She’s easy enough for one to wrangle from rack to water, and a breeze for two.

She’s asymmetric below the waterline with a tumblehome that references elegant cottage craft of the past. Low bow and stern mean reduced windage and a shallow arch bottom means her initial stability is good. The moderate rocker means that she turns when you need her to, and tracks when you want her to. And she covers ground like a champ. Picnickers, couples, and anybody who loves to spend a long lazy day exploring will love her.

And yup … she can carry a load; kids in the middle, your dogs or light overnighters. She has enough displacement that you needn’t leave anybody behind.

A Thoroughly Modern Hull and a Classic Tumblehome

The Tandem Day’s asymmetric hull meaning she has less rocker in her aft stations, and a finer forward entry. Paddlers will find that she has a somewhat better glide and tracking ability than would be found on a traditional symmetrical hull. The compromise is that she can’t be reversed and paddled from the forward seat by a solo paddler and thus doesn’t have the same versatility as, for instance, our Anglers Day .

That said, she maintains Ashes’ distinctive recurved tumblehome in her centre stations. We do this for two reasons: a/ to accommodate those times when a paddler does choose to go solo and finds him or herself kneeling in the centre portion of the canoe and requires an easier reach over the gunnels; and b/ the complex curves introduced by the tumblehome result in a stiffer hull for the same amount of materials.

Buy Plans for This Canoe If …

Build this canoe if you will be paddling with two people and a light load in mostly protected waters.

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 an 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  simple lines. Plans also have the outer stem profiles marked for those wishing to use hardwood stems.

The Tumblehome

Ashes’ tumblehome will cause some pause for thought for first time builders, however with a little patience she will go together with minimal fuss. Those finding themselves fighting gravity when laying the internal layer of glass cloth would be advised to use a disposable roller with a light touch. The glass will stick. We promise! Likewise, 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 as the knuckle has an occasional tendency to reward humility.

Building Light

A careful builder may be tempted 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!

If travelling this route, also be aware that the Tandem Day has a relatively shallow arch bottom and not much rocker leaving the potential for the middle third of the hull to “float” if built too lightly. If such occurs, installing a partial keel will stiffen the hull.

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. Just keep in mind that replacing parts down the road will be more difficult if the gunnels, seats and handles are glued in place

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.