Gunwale cap and Gumming, almost finished....

Tom starts to split the last long piece of cedar for the gunwale cap.

This piece contains a knot so we have to make a decision whether we try to split through it or... play it safe and take a saw. Well, we took the saw, its a really long piece of cedar and we didn't have any backup pieces lying around.

Wim is drilling holes in the gunwale with a hand drill.

With dowels the top gunwale is fixed on the canoe. The dowels are pounded in place and the excess length is cut off with a saw or crooked knife.

Tom and Wim are putting the last hand to the bow.

Finally the canoe is brought outside for the finishing touch and pitching gum! Pictures below: Tom cuts off the excess bark with a crooked knife. The gum is heated in a pot and mixed with bear-fat. You gather a bit of gum on the end of a stick and blob it over a seam, then lick you finger and press the gum into the seam.

Finally finished!

Its done! After 14 exciting days our birchbark canoe is finished, now see if it floats......
Pictures below:
Tom and Wim are the first ones to step in the canoe, then Marc joins Wim, and of course Tom has to test it on his own. It is very easy to handle and, as we found out after a few days paddling the Algonquin lakes, its very fast.

Back in Toronto, after we left the canoe at the transporter that ships it to the Netherlands, Wim and Marc celebrates the end of a successful project with a Grasshopper!