This is Brett Petrillo who is in university studying to become an educator specializing in Outdoor Education. This canoe building is a project selected by him to add to his life experiences.

Day 1: Brett has begun practicing the skills needed,
first with the spoke shave and then with the Dozuki (Japanese saw).

Drawing a centre line on the in-stems is critical for maintaining the centre line on the canoe.

Brett begins to shape the in-stems with his spoke
shave. See next picture.

Again Brett is shaping the in-stem to make sure the
strips have a fair landing.

A proud moment for Brett, he is stapling on the very
first strip. Many more to go!

Brett’s sister Teri came along to help put on
some of the more tricky strips.

Brett and Teri are making good progress, being careful
to avoid gaps between the strips.

Day # 3: Time to shape the top portion of the
in-stem, providing a fair landing for the wood strips.

Teri shows how nicely the glue rests in the cove of one
strip, ready for the bead of the next.

This is where having four hands is extremely helpful.
The twisting of the strips makes it tricky.

Who said that siblings can’t work well together
without arguing?

Funny how it all starts to some together and looking
like a canoe!

Brett puts in a stitch staple and is not far from
closing in the hull.

Brett stands back to admire his work. It all looks
good, except for that big hole in the bottom!

Day 4: Allowing time for the one side of the hull to
dry, Brett glues in place the hanging strips.

With the one side of the hull dry, Brett can now begin
to cut the midline.

Achieving a true midline on the hull is important when
matching the planks on the other side. Looks good to
me!