Like many other organizations, FCW scaled back operations during the Covid pandemic. Classes and meetings were paused, but the space was still available for members to work on projects.

One of our members, Colin M., used the time to build a 17 ft. strip canoe. Colin is a recent graduate in Mechanical Engineering and works as a designer for a local furniture company. He is also good at machining, welding, and is our CNC router guru.

Using plans that were purchased, Colin set up a work area in our outbuilding and located the appropriate

wood. He used the CNC router initially to make a custom stand for the canoe. Using the FCW woodshop, the strips were cut and hand fitted into place, then glued. The shell was

assembled, sanded, covered with fiberglass, then finished. Colin then made seats and a pair of oars.

The initial trip was over Mother’s Day weekend, and except for a few scratches was successful. Colin sent a picture of the completed canoe to the seller of the plans and was sent a set of plans for a kayak for free — so the next project is starting.