A Beautiful Wooden Canoe, Made Just for You.
If you want a canoe with real presence — something genuinely beautiful to look at and a joy to paddle — I can build it for you by hand here in Cambridgeshire. Every line and curve is shaped slowly and carefully so your canoe feels special the moment you see it, and even more so when you’re out on the water.
Most builds fall between £4,000 and £10,000+, depending on the design and the options available. I only take on a small number of builds each year so yours gets the time and attention it deserves.
If you’re exploring what might suit you, you’re welcome to get in touch. I reply personally to every message and can talk through materials, build times and the general cost range.
Click below to start a conversation.
No pressure, no commitment — just a friendly chat about the canoe you’d like to own and paddle for years.
Wood Strip Canoes
The reason these look so good is because they are built using the wood strip technique to create a seamless hull with beautiful flowing lines. This involves gluing many carefully moulded strips of timber together over a form and then covering with epoxy resin and fiberglass which seals and strengthens the hull and yet allows the beauty of the timber to shine through making them stunningly beautiful wooden canoes that everybody loves.
Each canoe is unique as the decks at each end are made to different styles using different timbers so you will have a canoe you can truly call your own!
Examples of Wood Strip Detailing
Gunwales & Contrasting Hull Interior
Striped Hull
Light Coloured Contrasting Hull
Wood and Canvas Canoes
This type of canoe is made with planking over steam bent ribs covered in canvas that is then filled and painted. The advantage of them is their sustainability. Every part of a wood and canvas canoe is repairable or replaceable indeed some have been around for a hundred years or more and although the canvas may have been replaced they are still usable today.
In addition to a single paint colour. The canvas can be painted with Beautiful Artwork like on our Riverside Edition Prospector, or other painted designs you may wish us to create especially for you to give your canoe that unique personal touch.
Plywood Canoes
This type of canoe can be made for you in two different ways, Bent Ply or Stitch and Glue.
This is created by carefully bending a very thin sheet of ply and then covering with fibreglass and resin as in our wood strip canoes. This makes you a canoe that is exceedingly lightweight but not as strong as the second, the stitch and glue method.
In this type the hull is made of sections of ply that are held together by strong epoxy and fibreglass joints. The hull can then be finished in one of two ways depending on the type of use and how often you wish to paddle it. If you don’t paddle often and it is mostly on flat water then it is enough to have the hull painted or varnished without a further layer of cloth and epoxy. Alternatively you may wish to have a layer of epoxy fibreglass covering to give greater durability.
Optional Extras
-
Carved carrying yoke - £200
-
Individually hand crafted paddles - £200-£350
-
Deck compartments - £250-£350 each
-
Exotic timbers & inlays for decks & trims - £P.O.A.
-
Special underside pattern - £50 upwards, depending on design
-
Full length brass keel strip - £250
-
Stem bands only - £160
-
Vinyl Lettering - approx. £30.00 or, Brass name plate - approx. £40.00
Olive Ash Deck & Integral Handle
Walnut & Maple Deck
We also offer a range of Paddles, plus other Accessories including Wannigans. Our Ordering & Delivery page also provides useful information.
Mahogany & Burr Elm Deck