Healthwealthhappinessfreedom: Does a Wood-Canvas Canoe Need a Keel?

Does a Wood-Canvas Canoe Need a Keel?

July 26, 2010

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Kettle River Canoes

If there is an area of controversy in the world of wood-canvas canoes, the question of the keel would be it.

Historically, canoes (and kayaks for that matter) never had keels. Edwin Tappen Adney documented hundreds of indigenous water craft throughout North America in the early part of the 1900’s. His meticulous notes, drawings and scale models are presented in the book “Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America”. It was compiled and edited by Howard Chappelle after Adney’s death. The canoes and skin boats range from small hunting boats around 11’ in length to large cargo vessels over 36’ long. None of these vessels were built with a keel.

As people of European ancestry came in contact with canoes through the 1800’s and tried to build them, they tended to approach the task of boat building from a European perspective. For them, the process of boat building begins with a keel. The rest of the vessel is built around that. So, some early canoe builders added a keel to the vessel. As canoes became a commodity for the general public in the early 1900’s, canoe builders had to appeal to a market that viewed a canoe as just another kind of boat. The general public of the time tended to distrust a boat that lacked a keel. Many people unfamiliar with canoes felt unstable in them and had trouble travelling in a straight line. As a result, most canoes sold in the better part of the 20^th century were equipped with a keel. However, it is interesting to note that true working canoes built at the same time (such as the Chestnut Prospector and the Chestnut Ogilvy) were usually keel-free.

This Chestnut Ogilivy is designed to be stable. The wide, flat bottom allows a person to stand up in this canoe comfortably all day long.

To look at it from a design perspective, the stability of a canoe is determined by the hull shape. Wider canoes (36” or more) with flat bottoms tend to have greater “initial stability” than narrow canoes (34” or less) with arched bottoms. What is gained in stability with a wide, flat bottom is lost in hull speed and vice versa (what is gained in hull speed with a narrow, arched bottom is lost in stability). Attaching a strip of wood an inch high to the bottom of a canoe does little to affect stability one way or the other.

This 16' Chestnut Prospector is designed to dance around rocks in rapid rivers. The lift in the ends of the canoe, called rocker, reduces the waterline length and makes the canoe very maneuverable. It tends to travel in a straight line, called tracking, once it is loaded with 700 or 800 pounds.

In terms of tracking, the tendency of a canoe to travel in a straight line increases with the length of the vessel. The longer the waterline length, the better the canoe tracks in the water. What is gained in tracking is lost in maneuverability. Note here that I refer specifically to the waterline length rather than the canoe’s length overall. An unloaded 16’ Chestnut Prospector with 4” of rocker (referring to the lift in the ends of the canoe) will have a waterline length of around 12’. What is lost in tracking is gained in maneuverability. If you are simply looking for a canoe that will travel in a straight line, get a long canoe (17’ or more) with no rocker so as to have a maximum amount of waterline length.

This Chestnut Pal is equipped with a shoe keel. At 3/8" high and 2-3/8" wide, it provides protection to the bottom without interfering with the canoe's ability to sideslip in a rapid river.

Functionally speaking, most canoes are designed to navigate rivers. The rivers of northern Canada present the traveler with many challenges – chief among them; rapids filled with large rocks. In order to negotiate a large rock in a rapid river, the canoe has to be able to slip sideways quickly and easily. In this situation, a keel can become a deadly liability. Many canoes built for rivers (such as the Chestnut Pal) were equipped with a “shoe” keel. This was a strip of wood 3/8’s of an inch high, 2-3/8’s inches wide attached along the centerline of the canoe. It provides protection against sudden encounters with rocks and does not interfere with the ability to sideslip.

In lakes, many people complain that a canoe without a keel will be blown around by the wind. Again, it comes back to learning how to handle the canoe. When travelling on a large lake with the wind in your face, the canoe must be loaded with the majority of the weight in the forward half of the canoe. The canoe will always tend to “weather-vein” – that is, it will orient itself with the lighter end downwind. As long as the weight of the canoe is upwind, the canoe will track easily in the wind.

A good qulaity bedding compound is essential when installing a keel. It seals the keel and prevents leaks.

Speaking as a canoe restorer, I wince slightly whenever I finish preparing a beautifully watertight canvas cover on a canoe and then proceed to drill a dozen holes straight down the centerline of the canoe. I solve the watertight issue by using a top quality marine bedding compound to set the keel. I use Dolphinite bedding compound. It has the consistency of peanut butter and remains flexible for decades. Eventually, the bedding compound dries out and/or the keel is jarred by one too many encounters with rocks in rivers. When the seal is broken, the canoe begins to leak. It is difficult, if not impossible, to remove the keel without damaging the canvas. Therefore, when the canoe starts to leak, it is usually time to re-canvas the canoe.

If the question of keels in canoes were strictly one of form and function, they would not be part of the discussion. You only have to look at any modern Royalex or Kevlar canoe on the market. None of the canoes built today have keels – and rightly so. However, in the world of canoe restoration, it is not just a question of form and function. When my clients bring their canoes to me for restoration, most often they want me to restore to them what they had. Having grown up with their canoe, it has been part of their life and part of the family. For many, their canoe has had a keel for fifty years, so they want the keel re-installed. In this context I say, “Fair enough.” It turns out that wood-canvas canoes are more than form and function. They must also be seen in the context of family history and tradition. For this reason, I have no problem re-installing a keel in a wood-canvas canoe. That said I still hold my breath as I pick up the drill.