The Wood And Canvas Canoe: A Complete Guide to Its History, Construction, Restoration, and Maintenance [Paperback]

Authors of both books are traditional wooden boat builders in Maine. Alvord describes well-made small wooden hunting and fishing craft that have a permanent place in Eastern boating. Focusing on historical preservation and identification of trends rather than on boatbuilding, he begins with a good chapter on "Boat Basics," which includes a concise glossary and a few good clear diagrams illustrating the terms. He surveys the Native American birch-bark canoe, Eastern fishing guideboats, Maine lobster boats, duck boats, and Chesapeake Bay watercraft. For most craft, there are a detailed line drawing and an interesting anecdote. This will not supplant Howard Chapelle's American Small Sailing Craft (1951), but it is enjoyable and has a nice recommended reading list. Stelmok and Thurlow are boatbuilders writing for boatbuilders. They offer some good history and a fine description of canoe building, but there is a great deal of technical talk. The first part is a third-person narrative describing how a modern-day canoe maker builds a traditional birch-bark canoe. It details a trip to the forest, selecting and gathering materials, and what tools to use. The rest of the book is a step-by-step guide by Stelmok to the repair and restoration of a turn-of-the-century wood and canvas canoe. We get a good idea of the rhythm of boatbuilding as it was in the early 1900s. This thorough, well-written book should be highly prized by canoe builders, but it is not for every library. John Kenny, San Francisco P.L.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Jerry Stelmok is a Tilbury House Publishers author.