Making a dugout canoe
In the fall of 1965 my grandfather bought a lot on Cow and the following spring built a tent platform a dock and what we called the sundeck. In the following years friends and relatives from our town also bought lots in the same
(Barber pole) section of Cow. One of them cut a big Pine at the water front and I got the idea to make a dugout canoe from it. The neighbors helped to roll it into the water and I used our old Arkansas Traveler with the 10 horse Johnson on it to tow it to our place. My Grandfather and I used a rope block and tackle to haul it on shore. Over the next two summers with my grandfather making cuts with the chainsaw and me using the ax and a borrowed adze we shaped it into a canoe.
Finally the moment of truth came when we pushed it into the water and climbed in with our paddles. It promptly rolled over and dumped us in the water!
We then nailed an outrigger with empty clorox bottles on the end and were able to go for a ride.
It was never the most stable or fast craft but I learned with that project that if you get an idea or a vision you carry it out with a lot of hard work and help from others.
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