The art of boating has been part of human civilization since time immemorial. It is hard to imagine how people could have advanced or even survived without boats helping them to perform a lot of necessary functions in life. Sadly, nowadays, most people no longer care about riding boats and canoes since today it is considered to be a very old-fashioned pastime. Nevertheless there are still people who are very much engaged in the craft. Not only certain people enjoy riding and paddling canoes, there are also some who enjoy building them. And this is now made more possible with the growing availability of free canoe building plans.

Basic Canoe Building Know-How

In order to build a canoe, one must first have a good grasp of the fundamental things about such boats. Being a simple vessel, and not really a complicated ship, a canoe is made only of seven basics parts. First is the bow, which is the front-most part of the canoe; next is the stern, which is its posterior counterpart. Third is the body of the boat known as the hull. Fourth is the seat. Fifth is the thwart, a crossbeam that lies horizontally on the upper part of the hull. Sixth is the gunwale, which is the hull’s top edge. Last is the deck, which is on top of the floatation compartment.  All these form a basic canoe. Other features may be included in newer canoe building plans, but if you have these seven parts, you’re basically good to go.

Canoe Building Materials

The traditional material for canoes is wood. The old canoes were made by just hollowing out tree trunks. While this is still practiced, it can be quite expensive given the rising prices of lumber unlike in the old days when wood is free. Most canoes today are made of lumber strips, instead of solid tree trunks. Such newer canoes are more lightweight and functional. They are also stronger and easier to build or design. The usual wood strips used for canoes are cedar, which is very ideal for its strength and flexibility. More modern canoes are made of other unconventional materials such as aluminum, plywood, fiberglass composites, polyethylene, Royalex, and combinations of wood and canvas.

Canoe Building Designs

Back in the early days, people did not really much bother with the designs of the canoe they built. They simply dug in logs to form a burrow big enough to fit people in. Back then, people did not follow building plans. They were generally free to do whatever they wanted as long as the logs could conform. However this crude canoe building technique could not provide the builder with needed specific results. Plans are needed to make things more standardized to ensure accuracy. Later on, skilled canoe builders new better and they started drawing plans to make their canoe building not only easier but more systematic. This produced great results, taking the craft of canoe building to a level of art.

Canoe Building Plans for Amateurs
Nowadays most, if not all, canoe builders make canoes using plans. But builders now need not really draw their own canoe building plans, they can make use of read-made plans that are now widely available through canoe building books and instruction manuals. Moreover, such design plans can even be acquired for free.

Where to Get Free Canoe Building Plans

There are many canoe building plans available for free. Outdoor lifestyle and campaign magazines sometimes feature new canoe designs that can be made by most builders. The internet is also teeming with free canoe building plans. Here are some websites that feature free plans:

http://home.clara.net/gmatkin/freedes.htm
http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/summer/boats/index.htm
http://www.carryingplacecanoeworks.on.ca/html/plan_list.htm

Other websites that provide free canoe building plans can easily be searched through any leading search engine.

The joys of canoe building can now be enjoyed for free. With just a few mouse clicks, you can gain access to a whole new world of fun and learning.