16′ 1″ Abenaki

The Abenaki prototype was built during the production of our “Cedar Strip Building” DVD at The Newfound Woodworks in 2004. We launched it in April, 2004 and have been delighted with it’s performance. Many first time boat builders have built the Abenaki as their first project. It is straightforward strip construction. We named the Abenaki in honor of the Native Americans who once paddled and fished the inland waters of southern New England.

This canoe is loosely based on old Maine canoe designs with traditional re-curved stems and slightly flatter bottoms than the old designs originating in Canada for greater initial stability. One can imagine this canoe packed with a week’s gear for the ultimate paddling adventure. The Abenaki is fairly beamy with large capacity and good stability, similar to the traditional “Prospector” design. This is a great all around canoe design. Take your kids and/or dog and paddle about on lakes and slow moving rivers.

About Our Kits

All of our kits are created as we get orders. Please email us ([email protected]) with your name, address, telephone number, and shipping address (if different) and we will email a quote that includes packaging and shipping costs. A “kit” can include everything or just certain items. If you just want strips, email us with the pertinent name and address, the design you are building and we will email a quote. We mill all of our strips here at our facility in New Hampshire to the highest standards after air drying the cedar. If you pick up at our shop, of course there is no shipping charge. We will shrink wrap your materials so that they are impervious to the weather. A kit can be picked up with a vehicle that you would normally use to transport your canoe or kayak.

The Abenaki Kit Includes:

Plans, our Strip Building Construction Notes, CNC cut mold Forms that include Clamping Grooves for Stapleless Construction, a CD of Construction Pictures showing several canoes we have built, coved and Beaded 6′ to 10′ Northern White Cedar Strips, About 30% Full Length Western Red Cedar Strips, four aspen strips for accents, pre-milled Ash Outwales, Scuppered Ash Inwales, Ash Thwart or Yoke, Natural Cane/Ash Seat(s), Spanish cedar seat cleats, Seat Hardware, Ash Stem Laminations, Spanish cedar Deck Material, Fiberglass, Slow Cure, Low Viscosity, Non-Blushing Epoxy, Epoxy Application Supplies, and Varnish.

E-mail us with your complete address and the design you are interested in and we will quote shipping and packaging costs.

Pre-Kits

If you haven’t built a stripper before and aren’t sure about the process, you may want to get a Pre-Kit first. This includes “Cedar Strip Building” DVD, “Applying Fiberglassing” DVD, and Susan Van Leuven’s book, “The Illustrated Guide to Wood Strip Canoe Building“.