Forest and stream. 
The Shenandoah Cruising Canoes* 
To those who love to dwell in tents and to go a-fishing, 
and to loiter along by the waterside and to paddle over 
its surface, canoe cruising offers peculiar attractions. 
By canoe cruising I refer to that particular branch of 
the sport for which, by the way, the canoe possesses a 
peculiarly happy adaptation, wherein the canoeist loads 
his boat with camp plunder, and armed only with his 
paddle, hies himself, in company with a few kindred 
spirits, to some point high up on some narrow, winding, 
swift-flowing stream; or perchance launches his canoe 
in the very lake, pond or spring in which his chosen 
stream has its birth, and follows it down its winding 
course day after day — perchance for weeks — paddling 
and drifting gently along by day, over deep, shady pools, 
sparkling rapids and swift, glassy shallows, and by 
night drawing his canoe ashore near some cold spring or 
opportune farmhouse, and going into camp, to remain for 
a night, a day of a week, if the mood suits him, the 
location is inviting or the fishing is good. 
This is the only form of canoeing with which I have 
had any experience. I know nothing practically of the 
sailing canoes, as our Virginia mountain streams afford 
no opportunitj"- for the use of a sail. I never even saw a 
canoe afloat under full sail, except on one occasion, when 
on a brief business trip from New 'York to Hartford a 
few years ago. (Of course I went by water.) I sat on 
the hurricane deck of the steamer City of Richmond (at 
least that term would describe my location in Western 
river parlance, but I have my doubts as to whether it will 
go in Sound lingo- — at any rate, that's where I was), and 
watched with great curiosity and interest the manen\ ers 
of quite a little fleet of canoes of the Hartford C. C. as 
they skimmed about like swallows over the rough surface 
of the river, under a pretty stiff breeze. I do not, like 
most canoeists, even use my boat for a few hours — or 
an afternoon— paddling or sailing, for the simple reason 
that the nearest available water course is about six iriiles 
from Staunton; consequently the one or two camping 
cruises I take each summer will comprise the sum total 
of my season's canoeing, unless the continual pottering 
around with the canoe, known to the craft as "monkey- 
ing," can also be classed as canoeing. As a consequence 
I have devoted considerable time and attention to getting 
my canoe and outfit down to the most practical and 
effective cruising point, as viewed from my standpoint, 
and I feel confident that I have succeeded. 
My first known experience afloat was when, as an ex- 
ceedingly small bare-footed boy, a stray barn door in 
convenient juxtaposition to a good-sized mud puddle 
tempted me, and I. did cruise. My clumsy craft was 
awash to my ankles most of the time, but it sustained me 
and I had a good time; fully as much so as I have often 
enjoi'ed in after and more mature years, when afloat 
in a much more comfortable and seaworthy craft. The 
next experience of which my memorj'' records any im- 
pression was when, on an occasion when spending the 
day at my uncle's farmhouse, I undertook to make a 
cruise in a wash tub, with a broom for a paddle, across 
a flooded cellar, to reach an apple bin located on the 
further shore. This cruise, I regret to say, was not a 
success, and I spent the rest of my day in bed while my 
garments were being dried hy friendly and sympathizing 
female hands by the kitchen fire. I passed by easy stages 
through boyhood into manhood, but always in possession 
of a boat of some kind, in which I sailed, rowed, pad- 
dled and otherwise got me over the surface of the various 
rivers, lakes and ponds with which a kind Providence 
provided me, until I finally attained to the canoe stage 
of nautical development. 
It was several years, however, after I reached this 
stage before I rejoiced in the possession of a canoe. I 
wanted one badly enough, and the catalogues of the 
various builders were among my highest prized col- 
lections of literature, and were pored over by me until 
I knew them all by heart. But the difference between 
the lowest level of the quoted prices and the highest 
level of my available funds was so great that the canoe 
project seemed hopeless, until by chance Mr. W. P. 
Stephens' little leaflet "How to Build a Cheap Canoe" 
came into my hands, when I solved the problem by 
building my own canoe. His method of construction 
may be described briefly as a frame of light oak rib- 
bands built fore and aft over pine cross sections and 
covered with canvas. This method I still continue in 
building the canoes I shall describe presently, although 
I have long since departed considerably from the plans 
and methods described by Mr. Stephens. Mr. Stephens' 
canoe, however, struck me as being exceedingly small. 
Her dimensions were 14ft. long, 26in. beam, Sin. dri'p 
amidships and 10 in. deep at bow and stern, with a 3ft. by 
i8in. cockpit — a regular Rob Roy, in fact, of the smallest 
size. So in building I took the libert}'' of enlarging the 
plans to 3oin. beam, gin. depth amidships and 12 at either 
end, with a cockpit 4ft. by i8in. As my enlargements 
were done without previous experience, and entirelj^ by 
guess, the resultant canoe w^as a very crude sort of boat, 
but such as she was she answered my purpose for a 
couple of 3^ears, and I enjoyed several nice cruises in her. 
I then tackled Mr. S.'s plans again; this time adhering 
closely to his original lines, except that I gave the boat 
more depth and sheer, making it gin. deep amidships 
and I4in. at each etid. As I was very careful and pains- 
taking in extending my lines, the extensions also not 
aft'ecting the underbod}^ of the boat in the least, I this 
time succeeded in turning out a beautiful and serviceable 
little craft, albeit a very small one. This canoe was fitted 
with- a cockpit 8ft. in length by i8in. amidships, which 
greatly increased her roominess and comfort. 
By this time some of my friends had become inoculated 
with the canoe fever, and' as a result three more canoes 
svere built exactly from Mr. S.'s lines, except that at my 
suggestion they were fitted with 8ft. cockpits instead of 
3ft.; also the method of building was siinplified to some 
extent, and some needless details omitted and some 
minor improvements added. These little canoes were 
quite successful, and were a source of satisfaction and 
pleasure to their owners and builders foi" several years. 
They were remarkably easy to paddle and control — in 
this respect, capital boats for our kind of cruising in 
swift, rough streams, full of rocks and rapids— but were 
very cramped and' uncomfortable both for cruising and 
campingj as owing to the lack of depth they possessed 
almost no stowage and sleeping room, and owing to their 
lack of sheer, with their narrow, sharp lines, were very 
wet boats in rough water. They were, in fact, continually 
awash in running rapids that were at all rough. My 
canoe, with her improved lines, was drier and more com- 
fortable in all respects. 
I next tried my hand on Mr. Stephens' well-known 
Jersey Blue model, obtaining my lines frorn his excellent 
little book "Canoe and Boat Building." i "monkeyed" 
with this model to the extent of leaving off her deep keel 
and rounding away her stern just like her bow. The result 
was an exceedingly handsome and serviceable canoe, 14ft. 
in length, 3oin. beam, loin. deep amidships, I4in. at 
stern and i6in. at bow, with a cockpit 8ft. long by 2oin. 
wide amidships. In the canoe I made my Shenandoah 
cruise of 1888, published in Forest and Stream under 
the head of "The Cruise of the Shenandoah C. C." in 
March, April and May, 1891. This canoe was a very 
comfortable and dry boat, but, owing to her long straight 
keel, which extended needlessly far fore and aft for a 
boat designed for this kind of water, she was entirely 
too hard to control and handle in swift, rough water; 
also she was rather too large and heavy for me — or at 
least, I thought so — so I sold her and built a new one. 
This trip I built to Mr, Stephens' Raritania model. This 
canoe, which is designed expressly for this kind of 
cruising, is 14ft. long, 27in. beam, pin. deep amidships, 
I3in. at bow and I2in, at stern. It is unusually full, with 
a broad, flat bottom, and for so small a boat affords 
considerable stowage and sleeping room. The cutaway 
at bow and stern is considerable; the curve of bow and 
stern pieces beginning 3ft. from either end, while almost 
the entire bottom is slightly rockered. This boat, there- 
fore, paddled easily, was easily controlled in rough water 
and was in all respects, perkaps the most satisfactory 
cruising canoe I had as yet built. She lasted me for 
several years, and several other canoes were built from 
the same model, all of which were quite satisfactory. Her 
faults were lack of room and lack of sheer; she was quite 
a wet boat in rough water. I should have mentioned 
that she was about 3in. fuller aft than forward; her cock- 
pit, which was 8ft. long by i8in. width amidships, was 
loin. wide at the fore end and I3in. aft. 
When I was ready to build again, I carefully enlarged 
the lines, giving it an inch more beam and considerably 
more sheer, with half an inch more depth amidships; 
at the same time widening the cockpit to 2oin. amidships. 
The result was a canoe that for beaut}' of outline, quick- 
ness and ease of handling in rough water, where quick- 
ness and ease of handling is a prime consideration: light 
draft, roominess, dryness, etc., I am confident can hardly 
be improved upon. At the same time, I tinkered with 
Mr. Stephens' Jersey Blue again, giving it a long sloping 
cutaway bow and stern like the Raritania. I sent my 
Raritania plans to Mr. S., together with my suggestions 
as to his Jersey Blue plans. He was much interested in 
both, and was kind enough to correct and revise the lines 
of the former, and to draw entirely new plans for the 
latter, and to rename the resultant new models, at. my 
suggestion, the Shenandoah models Nos. i and 2. 
These models I now have the pleasure of presenting 
to the canoeist readers of Forest and Stream, with the 
confident assertion that for this kind of cruising they 
are the very best models that exist. I have no doubt 
that they will look small to the canoeist accustomed to 
the conventional i6ft. by 3oin. sailing canoe, but for the 
purposes for which they are designed they will be found 
amply large. What the No. i model lacks in this respect 
will be found in the No. 2, the extra 2in. beam of the 
latter, with her resultant fullness, making a surprising 
difference. 
The dimensions of the Shenandoah model No. i are as 
follows : 
Length 14ft. 
Breadth sSin. 
Depth— 
Amidships gj^in. 
Bow i6in. 
Stern i4in. 
Cockpit — 
Length 8ft. 
Width, bow I2in. 
Width, aft iSin. 
Width amidships - ■ - 2oin. 
Both ends are alike, except that the boat has about 3in. 
more fullness aft than forward. Both bow and stern are 
well rounded away, the curves of both bow and stern 
pieces beginning 3ft. from either end. This extreme 
cutawajr renders the boat quite easy to handle, and to 
turn quickly under the paddle. The hnes are unusually 
full, with a broad, flat floor, giving plenty of room in- 
side, as well as insuring light draft. The ends of the 
cockpit are square across the canoe. The cockpit is 
protected by a i3^in. coaming, which follows the lines 
of the gunwales, tapering from amidships toward either 
end. The cockpit is large and roomy, and gives plenty 
of sleeping stowage room, and being well protected by 
hatches affords practically all the conveniences of the 
open canoe, with the security of the decked craft. The 
hatches are three in number, and each hatch is divided 
into two sections, which are hinged together. The fore 
and aft hatches are 24in. long, and the midship hatch is. 
3oIn. long. There is a space of i8in. between the aft 
and m.idshjp hatches, in which the crew sits. This- space 
is covered by an oiled canvas apron of ample dimensions, 
which com_es well up around the breast of the crew and 
well down over the sides of the canoe, affording ample 
protection from rain or seas. The motive power is a 
double-bladed paddle or 8ft. long. 
Shenandoah model No. 2: 
Length i4h. 
Breadth 3oin. 
Depth— 
Amidships loin, 
Bow i6in. 
Stern i4in. 
■ Cockpit — 
Length 8ft. 
Width amidships 2oin. 
Widtli, fore 20in, 
Width, aft.. i5in. 
Both ends are alike, both bow and stern being round- 
ed away, as in model No. i. The bottoms of both models 
are slightly rockered for their entire length. This boat 
has more fullnesss forward in proportion to her general 
lines than has the other model, there being no dis- 
tinguishable difference in her deck lines fore and aft, 
although her aft lines are a little fuller under water than 
her fore lines. The balance of No. i description applies 
equally to this model. The paddle should be from 6 to 
I2in. longer. 
These boats can of course be built by any method of 
construction, and in any of the materials ordinarily used 
in canoe construction. My own canoes have always been 
canvas canoes, and while undoubtedly heavier than the 
cedar boats, they have always proven stanch, seaworthy 
and in every respect reliable and satisfactory. They will 
stand as much rough usage as any other kind of craft— 
and possibly more. If torn oj- punctured the canvas is 
quickly and easily repaired. My canoes have cost me 
on an average from $13 to $16 each for materials. No 
estimate is made for work, as I built them myself at 
odd times, and on oft" afternoons during the winters. 
Since writing the above the most excellent and read- 
able canoeing number of Forest and Stream for Feb- 
ruary has reached me, and I note Mr. Podgers' objection 
to the canoe as a cruising craft on account of its cranki- 
ness. My own experience has been that when ballasted 
with about 100 to i25lbs. of camp plunder my canoe is 
remarkably stiff and steady, and when seated in her the 
idea of her capsizing with me never occurs to me, any 
more than the idea of capsizing from a bicycle, which is 
also a crank craft and prone to capsizing on occasions, 
yet, as a rule, remains right side up when properly 
handled. Caution is of course necessary in standinjg up 
in a canoe, and the operation of getting aboard and get- 
ting ashore is one to be performed with a reasonable 
amount of care, and a due regard for the delicate balance 
of the craft. I confess I >vould hardly care to fire a 
shotgun while standing in a canoe, or to cast a line, al- 
though I have taken scores of bass of various sizes, 
weights and fighting proclivities while seated. I have, 
however, shot some tolerably lively rapids while stand- 
ing in my canoe, and I know of canoeists who always 
take their rapids standing. 
In all my fifteen or sixteen years' canoeing experience 
I have scored but one capsize. It came very suddenly — 
they generally do — and as the result of a little too much 
brashness in attempting to shoot a full-grown, able- 
bodied mill dam; but that, as our friend Mr. Kipling 
would remark, is another story. Commodore. 
[The special model and construction developed by 
Mr. Webb in the course of many experiments in building 
and the subsequent practical use of the canoes is ex- 
cellently adapted for many localities, being thoroughly 
strong and stanch, and of very low cost. The full details 
of the construction, with the full-size plans, are given in 
his book, "The Manual of the Canvas Canoe." These 
canoes are in no sense toys, but capable of the roughest 
sort of cruising and exploring, equaling in durability 
a good wooden boat.] 
The R. C. C. Cruising Class. 
The following was written in replj' to a request for an 
opinion as to the suitability of the R. Q C. cruising class 
canoe, as illustrated in the May canoeing number, to the 
needs of American canoeists. In regard to the small in- 
crease of breadth suggested by Mr. Douglass, we are not 
in favor of any change unless it be sufficiently great, as in 
the R. C. C. canoe, to make the sliding seat unnecessary. 
With a breadth of 33in. in place of 3oin., there would 
still be a need for the long slide, and little would be 
gained. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have your letter asking for my opinion of Vanessa 
VII.,, and particularly her merits as compared with our 
old stj'le of i6ft. by 3oin. canoe, by which I take it you mean 
her suitability for adoption by the A. C. A. I shall con- 
fine myself almost entirely to the latter proposition, for 
probably not much fault can be found with her, of her 
kind, but she does not appeal at all to me as a boat to 
be taken up by the A. C. A. I believe the Association V 
should stick to the canoe, pure and simple, and not go off 
SHENANDOAH CANOE. AS BUILT BY F. R. WEBB, ESQ. 
