Voyage of the Paper Canoe: A Geographical Journey of 2500 miles, from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico, during the years 1874-5.Bishop, Nathaniel H. (Nathaniel Holmes)
History
Voyage of the Paper Canoe: A Geographical Journey of 2500 miles, from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico, during the years 1874-5.
Bishop, Nathaniel H. (Nathaniel Holmes)
Atlantic Coast (Canada) -- Description and travel; Atlantic Coast (U.S.) -- Description and travel; Bishop, Nathaniel H. (Nathaniel Holmes), 1837-1902 -- Travel -- Canada, Eastern; Bishop, Nathaniel H. (Nathaniel Holmes), 1837-1902 -- Travel -- United States; Canada, Eastern -- Description and trave
"The paper is now subjected to the water-proof process, and the
skin, with its keelson, inwales, and deadwoods attached, is then
placed in the carpenter's hands, where the frame is completed in
the usual manner, as described for wooden boats. The paper decks
being put on, it is then ready for the brass, iron, and varnish
work. As the skins of these boats (racing-shells) vary from
one-sixteenth of an inch in the singles, to one-twelfth of an
inch in the six-oared outriggers, the wooden frame becomes
necessary to support and keep them in shape. In applying this
invention to gigs, dingys, canoes, and skiffs, a somewhat
different method is adopted. Since these boats are subjected to
much hard service, and must be so constructed as to permit the
occupant to move about in them as is usual in such craft, a
light and strong frame of wood is prepared, composed of a
suitable number of pairs of ribs, with stem and stern pieces cut
from the natural crooks of hackmatack roots. These are firmly
framed to two gunwales and a keelson, extending the length of
the boat; the whole forming the skeleton shape of the desired
model. The forms for these boats having been prepared, as
already described for the racing-shells, and the frame being let
into this form, so that the outer surface of the ribs, stem and
stern pieces will conform with its outer surface, the paper skin
is next laid upon it. The skin, manufactured from new,
unbleached linen stock, is carefully stretched in place, and
when perfectly dry is from one-tenth to three-sixteenths of an
inch thick. Removed from the model, it is water-proofed, the
frame and fittings completed, and the boat varnished. In short,
in this class of boats, the shape, style, and finish are
precisely that of wooden ones, of corresponding dimensions and
class, except that for the usual wooden sheathing is substituted
the paper skin as described.
"The advantages possessed by these boats over those of wood are:
"By the use of this material for the skins of racing-shells,
where experience has demonstrated the smooth bottom to be the
best, under-water lines of any degree of fineness can be
developed, which cannot successfully be produced in those of
wood, even where the streaks are so reduced in thickness that
strength, stiffness, and durability are either wholly sacrificed
or greatly impaired. In the finer varieties of 'dug-outs'
equally fine lines can be obtained; but so delicate are such
boats, if the sides are reduced to three-sixteenths of an inch
or less in thickness, that it is found practically impossible to
preserve their original forms for any length of time. Hence, so
far as this point is concerned, it only remains for the builder
to select those models which science, guided by experience,
points out as the best.
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