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The Berkshire Canoe will remind some people of a Wee
Lassie, the ten to twelve foot cedar lapstrake canoes
that Henry Rushton built for George Washington Sears in
the 1880's. All Wee Lassies, are small, light solo canoes
that, like kayaks, perform best when propelled by a double
paddle used by a paddler seated low in the boat.
Although the Berkshire Canoe shares similar dimensions with
the Wee Lassie, our boat is significantly different in that
its battens and ribs are lashed together and then covered
with a nylon skin. This skin-on-frame construction resembles
that of baidarkas (Aleutian kayaks), kayaks and umiaks (large
open boats) which were lashed with sinew and skinned with
seal or walrus hides.
The great advantage of lashing and skinning is that the boat
gains a degree of flexibility, allowing it to give when poked
and banged. Furthermore, few people realize that the Indians
of northern Canada built what Edwin
Tappan Adley called in his classic book Bark Canoes
and Skin Boats of North America, kayak-form canoes — light, hunting canoes roughly the same dimensions as the Berkshire
Canoe, although usually flat bottomed.
Specifications
(Variations depend on the size and preferences of the builder.)
Length: 10'-14'
Beam: 27"-30"
Depth: 9"-11"
Weight: 18 lbs - 30 lbs
The Berkshire Skin Boat owes a debt to four inspired modern
boat builders: George Dyson, who
has pioneered the modern use of nylon skins and artificial
sinew in the construction of baidarkas; Bruce Lemon who has further perfected the modern baidarka; Platt Monfort, whose dacron-skinned
geodesic boat the Snowshoe 12 contributed significantly to
your boat; and Pete Hornbeck who builds fiberglass, kevlar,
and carbon fiber versions of Rushton's Wee Lassie.
In quiet
waters — flat-water sections of rivers, ponds, moderate sized
lakes, calm estuaries. Stay away from all rough water, strong
currents, and places where you are likely to strike sharp,
hard objects. Take care to enter and exit your boat from shallow
water, and never try to stand in the boat. Since your canoe
is very difficult to re-enter from the water (I've can't do
it), never paddle beyond where you can swim to shore safely.
Always wear a PFD (personal floatation device — life jacket).
Invest in a map of Berkshire County, a booklet on canoeing
the Housatonic, and try out some great local places. Here
are some ideas: Upper Goose Pond in Tyringham; the Housatonic
River either at the bridge just above Bartholomew's Cobble
here in Sheffield or at any of the lovely flat-water stretches
north of Great Barrington; East Indies Pond in New Marlborough
where you carry in from Thousand Acre Swamp or Guilder Pond
in the Mt. Everett Reservation. There are dozens of beautiful
spots, and they're fun to find. If you want to paddle in the
Adirondacks — where there are over one thousand ponds, free
campsites, and well-marked portages — I recommend you contact
the St. Regis Canoe Outfitters, Floodwood Road at Long Pond
Portage, P. O. 318, Lake Clear, N. Y. 12945 (Tel. 518-891-1838).
Shaw & Tenney, P. O. Box 213, 20 Water Street, Orono,
Maine 04473 (Tele. 207-866-4867) sells a first rate spruce
canoe double paddle for about $150.00, as well as many other
fine quality traditional single paddles. Your paddle should
be at least 8 1/2 feet long (you can just get away with 100
inches). Unfortunately, most kayak paddles are much shorter.
I've heard that some companies will build you a long paddle,
but I bet the price would be higher than Shaw and Tenney's.
A pinhole is easily stopped with a few drops of
contact cement. Larger holes can be patched from the inside
with extra nylon cloth and contact cement. Duct tape works
fine for a temporary solution.
For the record, however, punctures are extremely rare. I
know of only one in the 100+ boats we have built, and that
one was easily and permanently repaired. I have polled my
boat over beaver dams in the Minnesota Boundary Waters, butted
into logs in the Adirondacks, scrapped across rocks off the
coast of Maine, and never had the slightest leak.
Write:
Dyson, Baidarka & Co
435 West Holly Street
Bellingham, WA
98225
or call me:
Contact Hilary
Russell
PO Box 578
Sheffield, MA 01257
Telephone: 413- 229-2549
Email: hemlockgrange@earthlink.net
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