A Healthy Paddling

Recently, I struck gold on Facebook Marketplace and I bought a canoe for a hundred and fifty bucks. It’s fifteen or so feet long, two seats, and it came with a name pasted on the front: “Is very 69”. Long story short, I couldn’t be happier with my purchase.

There she is in all her beauty, but she was missing her center thwart, otherwise known as a yoke, so I used some mahogany scraps I picked up from a local cabinet shop’s scrap pile to create a suitable one. As you can see, it turned out quite gorgeous.

But, before I could put the majestic beast to use, I needed some paddles. The first paddle I made was custom built for me, I made it quite a bit taller than average (almost 69”), and because I made the strange choice to build it out of a redwood plank – which is a very soft wood – I made it extra girthy so it can still hold up to some abuse.

Then, my son was jealous of my epic paddle, so I made a little tiny one for him to hold while we are in the canoe, but it is big enough that once he’s a bit bigger he can use it for it’s intended purpose for a while before he grows out of it. The shaft is poplar, and the handle and blade are walnut, all of which I got for free from the local scrap bin (which has been treating me well recently).

I went to the lake with my family and me and my brother went for a long paddle, and my brother used my son’s little paddle. Needless to say it didn’t work very well for a full sized person, so I needed to make another one. This one is, strictly speaking, my wife’s, but since she’s not very into canoeing, it is more realistically a guest paddle. The shaft is mahogany, and the blade and handle are both walnut (the other half that was left over from the little paddle). This might just be the prettiest thing I’ve made to date.

I made all of these paddles with nothing but hand tools – mostly because power tools scare me – with the sole exception of a random orbital sander which likely saved me many hours of tedium. It was a very fun process. For the redwood paddle, I carved it all from a single plank from Home Depot, and it made me feel in tune with the countless woodworkers of ages past who carved their paddles with drawknives and spokeshaves, and those even before them who used stones and shells. The other two were much the same, but I used some very modern Titebond III to join the different wood types together for a unique appearance.