CANOE

Dennis Hefling and his son built this 17'5" cedar-strip canoe from plans that Dennis drew up. They "wanted a canoe that was light in weight and had plenty of carrying capacity but would still paddle and track easily on lakes and rivers." They bought the red cedar from local lumber suppliers by rummaging throught the stock every time they went in: "If there was a piece of clear--or almost clear--1" stock in the rack, we purchased it." Old hockey sticks provided the wood for the seats, wood for the decks came from a packing crate from Costa Rica, and water-resistant leather for the seats comes from the tanner that supplies leather for major league baseballs. Plans are available from Dennis at dennishefling@gmail.com.