I've toyed with the idea of building a cedar strip tandem for a couple of years now. There are a number of sites and resources available. With regard to boat design, I've had a half dozen possibilities on the board and am still uncertain which one to commit to. I haven't paddled a large number of boats but my favorite is still the old sawyer cruiser. I love the way it paddles, but fully loaded there just isn't enough free board for my comfort with any size rollers. I've thought about tweaking the cruisers basic hull design to make it more seaworthy for my taste. Ross Leidy has some great free design software at his 'blue heron kayaks' website. Has anyone here paddled a Swift Winisk and have any comments?

I built a cedar strip Winisk. Great boat, does everything I wanted it to do. Fast and seaworthy. My primary boat, used for spring trips with my buddy and summer trips with the family. Plans from Green Valley.

Moonman

Yes the bottom of the canoe (an now my kayak) has graphite powder and silica powder mixed with the epoxy. Supposedly it makes the bottom more slippery for encounters with rocks and such. It seems like that may be true, but I think it hides some of the ugliness of the inevitable scratches you'll get if you actually USE the canoe. I kinda like the look too.

It wasn't too tough since it was just another coat of epoxy. I marked a line with pencil and masked off all but the bottom then applied with a roller. The problem I had was it was to thick and the roller popped up little bubbles which eventually came out with the finish sanding. If you looked at (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) most of the build is documented (although not with a lot of detail). Unfortunately I didn't include the graphite step. The canoe is a little heavier than I wanted cause I built it extra tough, but being so stiff it was a lot more enjoyable to paddle than those kevlar rentals.

Zski,

no problem on the pm, ask away.

Moonman.