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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels April 15, 2004 Canoes are a passion for builder By Scott Staats Tidings Correspondent Watching Richard Cleveland at work in his Klamath Falls shop making canoes is like watching PBS's "The Woodwright's Shop" and "The New Yankee Workshop" at the same time. Cedar strip canoes combine the beauty of wood with classic design and light weight. Scott Staats | For the Tidings Opening the door of his homemade wooden steam box, he pulls out the first of eight cedar ribs. The now pliable strips are slowly bent around a 300-pound form, which resembles an upside down canoe, and attached to the gunwales. This is the beginning step to building a wood canvas canoe. Ten feet from the canoe-in-progress sits a recently completed cedar strip canoe. The light and dark red cedar strips running the length of the 17-foot canoe glisten with the final coat of varnish. These two boats are meticulously handcrafted and designed for those with an appreciation of wood and traditional style of canoes. Sky Lakes Canoe and Paddle Company was formed by Cleveland and his wife, Lorena, in 1999. Cleveland, a retired forester, was finally able to pursue his lifelong hobby and dream. He grew up in Maine on Lake Pennessawassee and spent as much time on the water as on land. He moved to the West as a young man working for the U.S. Forest Service, spending his entire career in Oregon and Northern California. Always an active proponent for recreationists, Cleveland combined his love of quiet paddling on peaceful lakes with his skill in woodworking to produce custom cedar strip and wood canvas canoes plus originally designed paddles. He has also built several fishing nets from steamed wood. The couple make custom furniture as well. After the eight cedar ribs were firmly attached, we headed out to the Williamson River north of Klamath Falls to give the canoes a test ride. My wife and I paddled their 16-foot synthetic Old Town canoe at first, which I thought handled just great. Then we switched to the cedar strip canoe and I knew immediately we were in the cream of the crop. At 25 pounds lighter, the canoe glided effortlessly across the surface with great maneuverability, while remaining stable. The lightweight ottertail paddle cut the water so easily, I had to make sure I wasn't holding it sideways. I felt I could paddle the canoe all day without getting tired. Memories of lugging 75- to 100-pound canoes on long portages in Canada came to mind. If I only knew about these canoes back then. Born and raised in New England, Cleveland recalls how he got interested in canoes. When he was about 12 years old, a friend of his father's who was an avid fisherman, would cross the lake in his canoe and hire Cleveland to paddle him around while he fished. Cleveland jokes that he was probably the first "trolling motor" on the lake. Thus, his lifelong love of canoes began. His dad made him a paddle when he was about 6 years old. He now lets his grandchildren use the same paddle. The cedar strip canoes are constructed with western red cedar cut in strips 3/4 of an inch wide. Each strip is cut with a bead-and-cove to allow a closer fit, especially at the waterline. The wood is laminated in clear fiberglass inside and out to provide strength and preserve the beauty of the wood. Each canoe is finished with three coats of marine-grade varnish to protect from UV light and wear from general use. The result is a canoe that shows the beauty of all wood, is incredibly light - around 50 pounds - and handles beautifully. The strips are glued into place individually. When the hull is formed, sanded and faired, it's laminated with fiberglass and epoxy resin. Gunwales, thwarts, decks and hand-caned seats are added for the finishing touches. Wood canvas canoes are just that. They look more like a "traditional" canoe. On the inside of the canoe, you see wood ribs and planking, and the outside is painted the classic green. Cleveland first had to built a form, which essentially is a 300-pound upside down canoe with metal bands around it where the ribs will go. The inside gunwale is fitted to the form and the ribs (2-1/4 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick) are steamed and bent around the metal bands and attached to the gunwales. Then the planking (5/32 of an inch thick) is attached to the ribs. This forms the structure of the canoe. The canoe is removed from the form and canvas is stretched around the entire outside of the hull, attaching just under the outside gunwale. Then the canvas is sealed with a hardener, sanded and painted. The finishing touches are the same as the cedar strip canoe - decks, thwarts, and hand caned seats. Cleveland's cedar strip canoes are built almost entirely from western red cedar. Gunwales, thwarts and seat frames are available in ash or mahogany. The ribs of his wood canvas canoes are white cedar and the planks are western red cedar. Paddles are made with redwood or basswood for the shafts and alder or cherry for the blades. Blade tips are protected with fiberglass. The contoured grips are finished with tung oil for all-day paddling comfort. Three blade styles are available: the standard rectangular and the more traditional ottertail and voyager blades. Cleveland ensures that all paddles are custom fit for each person. "Stability in a canoe is totally based on design," he said. He builds a semi-round bottom canoe, which is one of the more stable designs. Cleveland can build a cedar strip canoe in about five weeks and a wood canvas canoe in about three weeks. Lorena helps out during the entire building process and specializes in weaving the cane seats. "I've always been interested in canoes since I was a kid, and I like working with wood," Cleveland said. "Building wooden canoes seemed like the natural thing for me to do." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams