ST MICHAELS, MD – The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum has announced its latest shipyard project—the building of a new log hull canoe. Construction will begin this fall, with the project set to be finished next summer.
This Tilghman Island style, five-log canoe will be built from the excess loblolly pine logs used in the historic restoration of Edna E. Lockwood. The hull is set to reach approximately 32ft in length, with a beam width of 6ft. The building process will kick off in September, with milling of the logs, and continue with shaping the hull into early 2019. Once the major components of building the hull are complete, the boat will be moved to the corn crib, where the rest of construction will take place.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into research and practice with the Chesapeake style of building. I’m glad others find interest in the construction and stories of these boats,” said CBMM Shipyard Manager Michael Gorman.
Construction on the log canoe will be undertaken this year alongside another major project. Following the launch of Edna E. Lockwood at OysterFest in October, CBMM will start restoration on 1912 river tug Delaware, a member of the floating fleet featured in the new exhibition, Lines of the Floating Fleet.
This is not the first log canoe to be built at CBMM. Bufflehead—the first log canoe built since 1979—was launched in April 2015. CBMM’s shipwrights and apprentices constructed the hull of Bufflehead from three, 26-foot loblolly pine logs. Bufflehead resides on CBMM’s campus for the public to view. Each summer, CBMM staff set sail on this canoe along the Miles River for the Chesapeake Bay sailing log canoe races.
Building on the success of CBMM’s log canoe construction projects, the Shipyard is prepared to take on more log canoe construction projects, starting with this privately commissioned log canoe being built this year.
For updates on all of CBMM’s Shipyard projects, please visit cbmm.org.
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~ Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum