How to make your boat out of wood? Michael knows!

One of the other days I saw some pictures of a wooden boat and a short text saying Wabnaki canoe handmade by mine. I admit I liked what I saw and decided to find out more. That's how I met, unfortunately only in virtual space, but I hope it will happen soon in real life, a wonderful man for whom wood is both profession and hobby. About him, the boat he built and his plans for the future I want to tell you more.

How the adventure began

Mihai Bonda is a carpenter from Săvădisla, Cluj county. He is passionate about wood and like any good craftsman he likes to craft, to use a fashionable term. 3 years ago he bought some books from the You can do it yourself, including Wooden boats by Gil Gilpatrick. He took them, flipped through them and put them wellcompletely forgetting about them.

This year he got down to tidying up and came across Gilpatrick's book. You know those moments when you're cleaning out the library, climbing a ladder and you come across a favorite book? You end up sitting like that, like a crow in your hair, for hours reading that book. Michael had one of those moments. He discovered 6 boat models in the book, but one in particular caught his attention - the Wabnaky Canoe.

Filled with the desire to build his own wooden boat, he started to look around on specialist forums to see what was involved in building a canoe. He soon discovered that it's not a very simple thing. But being an ambitious person and having woodworking as a profession, he decided to start building anyway.

Materials needed and the actual construction

The first thing was to look for the materials needed: wood, fibreglass, epoxy resins. In the book, it says to use cedar wood. But he found it hard to find in the country. Plus, cedar is a heavy wood and the boat would end up weighing around 35kg. Determined not to give up, he went to a specialist shop where they recommended abachi for resilience and iroko for colour contrast.

Abachi (obeche or samba) is wood from a tropical tree in Africa. It is pale yellow in colour and is also used to make guitars. Iroko is a tree that grows on the west coast of Africa and is believed to have supernatural powers. The wood of the young tree is golden yellow and turns brown when mature.

Looking for fibreglass, he met Marius Fătu from Constanta, a great boat enthusiast who has built over 200 ultra-light boats (kayaks and canoes). Mihai never misses an opportunity to thank Mr Fătu for his advice and help. This time he hasn't forgotten either 🙂

The actual construction took 4 months. It started at the end of April and by early August it was ready to be tested on the water. And it was decided that the test would take place on Lake Belis, on a well-deserved holiday, where the boat performed wonderfully and was the attraction of the place.

He's so hooked on this boat-building bug that he's already planning to build a mini-cruiser for which he's even ordered plans in the US. The boat will be 6.2m long and 2.4m wide, and will take about 2 years to build. Michael realises it's a long time, but says it's worth it. And the joy with which he recounts his experience, the satisfaction of sitting in his own wooden boat that he built, convinces you that it is - it really is worth it.

(source photos: Mihai Bonda)