Mystic River Canoe

The 17' Mystic River Tandem Canoe, from the pen of designer Nick Schade, is a handsome, comfortable boat for protected water exploration---and a great embarkation point for builders looking to try their hands at the art of boatbuilding with cedar strips.

"My wife Robin and I wanted a boat that we could easily drop in the water after dinner and enjoy a nice evening paddle with a minimum of fuss and bother," Nick says. "We wanted it to be a joy to paddle, comfortable, and efficient. With classic lines, graceful recurved stems, and nice tumblehome, this strip-planked canoe design would be at home drifting along the shore in the Adirondacks, or across a harbor in Maine. Robin and I most often use our canoe to explore the waters here in Groton and Mystic, Connecticut."

The long waterline and fine entry allows this canoe to cover the miles with speed and efficiency. It has good stability and the capacity to carry a decent load. While it does not have the huge payload of a cargo canoe, or the water-shedding and turning ability of a whitewater canoe, it is a good all-around canoe for fast, lightweight touring.

Canoes are the original cedar strip boatbuilding project, going back forty years or more.  Canoes are easier than kayaks to build as there is no deck or cockpit coaming, and the gentle hull shapes make stripping over the molds quick and easy. The Mystic River Tandem is a great first wood-strip-construction undertaking.

Our strip-built and hybrid kits ship with 50% Western Red and 50% Alaskan Yellow cedar bead & cove strips. Photos on our website and printed materials may show patterns and accent strips with walnut or other materials. Optional walnut strips are available and can be shipped with kit orders.