Model: Length: Hull Weight: Beam: Max Payload: Cockpit Size: Paddler Weight: Rowing Draft:
Nymph Canoe 10' 0" 23 lbs. 25 in. 200 lbs. na 100 - 170 lbs. 4"

See Other Canoes  Mystic River Sassafras 12  Sassafras 16

Nymph Canoe Configurations:
» (click here to learn about kit options)
Standard Configurations:
Complete Nymph 10 Kit
view contents
$1685
$1500
Complete Nymph 12 Kit
view contents
$1685
$1500
Alternative Configurations:

Nymph 12 Forms & Strongback Only Kit
view contents

$465
$441

Nymph 10 Forms & Strongback Only Kit
view contents

$405
$384

Nymph 10 Forms Only Kit
view contents

$245
$232

Nymph 12 Forms Only Kit
view contents

$245
$232

Nymph 10 Full-Size Plans & Manual
view contents

$129
$116

Nymph 12 Full-Size Plans & Manual
view contents

$129
$116
Additional Components:

Building Strip-Planked Boats
view contents

$22.95
$21.80
Materials List for Plans Builders:
» view the Nymph Canoe materials list and order a la carte!
Popular Accessories:
» view other items you may need
Supplies List for Kit Builders:
» view other items you may need

"It is wonderful how few pounds of cedar, rightly modeled and properly put together, it takes to float a man.” So wrote J. Henry Rushton in the late 19th century. Rushton was a canoe builder who helped promote a class of ultra-light sporting canoes. In this way he might have done as much to invent our sport as Inuit seal hunters did. Rushton’s most famous “pack canoe” was called “Sairy Gamp,” and it weighed just 10 pounds. Nick Schade’s interpretation, the Nymph 10, is ten times easier to build and weighs less than 20 pounds built with quarter-inch bead-and-cove cedar strips. 

Less than 20 pounds! We’ve had cats that weighed more. Yet Nymph will carry you to your favorite fishing spots, moving fast with a kayak paddle, stable enough to relax and eat lunch aboard while you slouch in the kayak-style seat. If you want to get the Nymph down to 15 pounds or less, you can build with 3/16” strips.

Nick wrote about building Nymph in a recent WoodenBoat article, and it’s featured in his new boatbuilding book. Builders are the beneficiary of beautiful, clear illustrations in the instruction manual. And for “walking softly in the wilderness,” you just can’t beat an ultralight canoe.

The flyweight 10-footer is 25" wide and will hold paddlers weighing up to about 175 pounds.  It's overloaded beyond that, although you can press the limit if the extra weight is in the form of gear stowed low in the hull.

A 12-foot version of this kit, a little heavier but with a payload of up to 240lbs, is growing in popularity.  The Nymph 12 is 12' long x 26.5" wide and will weigh between 25 and 30 pounds, depending on construction technique. You can choose between the 10- and 12-foot Nymph in the options above.

Build this boat if:

  • You want an ultralight, fast, and comfortable canoe with lots of eye appeal.
  • You like the look of a classic canoe that can become an heirloom

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

Other builders looked at:

Sassafras 12 | 10-Foot Little Auk | 11-Foot Little Auk