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While up North for a short vacation (aka canoe time), I had to make another (regretable) decision regarding the sealant for the canoe. I had collected and purified plenty of spruce & pine gum last summer which had been stored in my city freezer all winter for this moment. Well I forgot to bring this vital item up and needed to seal the interior of the canoe while I had the time.

As a compromise and so as not to delay the build even further, I communicated with a few other builder who mentioned that they've used polyurethane sealants with much success in their bark canoes. It has many "advantages" over the natural sealants since it is apparently more flexible and isn't prone to running or cracking with temperature fluctations. It can also be applied in cooler temperatures when tree gum may set too quickly...another reason why it appealed to me at this time. Gidmark's books talk about Algonquin builder Jim Jerome and others using roofing tar as opposed to tree gum as well. Given that the bark quality isn't the best, I figured as much sealant assistance the better to keep this sucker waterproof. Still it pains me to use these synthetic elements in a boat made from natural, harvested materials - so as a compromise, I'll be gumming the exterior with my collected gum but decided to seal the interior with a synthetic agent.

The gooey tar was worked into the lap stitch seams as well as any other weak spots in the hull. In particular, the centre panel had many pin sized holes that I identified by shining a spot light on the underside of the hull and marking the locations where the light seeped through. These were sealed with single globs of sealant. The whole thing has made the interior pretty ugly, but of course it will be covered with beautiful cedar sheathing soon enough...


Interior "gummed" with synthetic sealant

I was recently made aware of another great reference source for building bark canoes. The Canadian Museum of Civilization has posted an out of print PDF version of the 1974 publication, The Weymontaching Birchbark Canoe by Camil Guy

Turns out the term Weymontaching refers to the specific band of who used to refer to themselves as Attikamek and who the french refered to as "Tetes de Boule". What a coincidence, since the model of canoe I was instinctively attracted to and decided to emulate is from this group of peoples who traditionally inhabited the Upper St. Maurice river in neighbouring Quebec.

The museum has divided up the online book into separate downloadable sections dealing with various aspects of the build. I've downloaded all of these and in my quick overview of the material, it covers all the relevant aspects of building process with some illustrations that provide more specific detail than Adney's overview on all canoe types or Gidmark's book focusing on the Wabanaki style.

For those of you interested. Below is the index with links to the downloadable sections in Adobe (*.pdf) format.

1. Cover, 1
   Contents, 5
   List of Plates, 6
   List of Figures, 8 (1.7 MB)


2. Biographical Note, 9
   Avant-propos, 10
   Preface, 11 (1.8 MB)


3. Part I: Introduction, 13 (4.3 MB)
   The Weymontaching Indians: Geographical and Ethnological Background, 13
   The Shape of the Têtes de Boule Canoe and its Pattern of Distribution, 13
   The One-Man Hunting Canoe, 15


4. Part II: Materials and Tools, 17 (4.0 MB)
   Materials, 17
   Tools, 19
   Use of Natural Elements, 21


5. Part III: Building the Canoe, 22 (7.9 MB)
   Assembling the Frame, 22
   Weighting the Frame and the Bark on the Building Bed, 22
   Shaping the Sides, 22
   Positioning the Gunwales, and Trimming and Lashing the Bark, 24
   Piecing-in the Bark Extensions, 26
   Measuring, Shaping and Drying the Ribs, 28
   Finishing the Tips and Strengthening the Frame, 29
   Caulking the Inside, 33
   Inserting the Sheathing and the Ribs, 33
   Caulking the Outside and the Tips, 34


6. Part IV: The Builder (1.4 MB)


7. Appendix, 37
   Literature Cited, 38 (537 KB)


8. Plates 3-34 : Building the Canoe, 40 (4.6 MB)