17′ Traveler

From the initial design to its first launch June of 2005, to its great popularity today, the Traveler canoe has had an interesting history. When Hans Friedel of Friedel Design created this design for us we could see that it would be very efficient. However, it had the typical plumb stems of modern canoes. We asked Hans to change the stems to be recurved so that we could achieve the appearance of a traditional design while still retaining exceptional performance properties. As a result, the traditional recurved stems makes it look like a canoe that has been handed down through the generations, but paddles like a dream. With the asymmetrical hull along with lots of tumblehome, this canoe has it all: the visual appeal of a traditional canoe with the modern hull associated with some of the most efficient canoes. Now you can have both! Paddlers have told us that this canoe is incredibly efficient. The true test is to get beside another canoe with two paddlers and see how they struggle to keep up. In addition, the Traveler is very stable and has the capacity to carry lots of gear on a trip. The tumblehome allows a wider waterline hull and tucked in gunwales.

The version pictured here has our contour seats and yoke.

About Our Kits

All of our kits are created as we get orders. Please email us (info@newfound.com) 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.

What is in a kit?

The Traveler 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“.

Canoe Pre-Kit