Stunning 17 Ft Cedar Strip Wood Canoe With Beautiful Wood Inlay

I am reluctantly parting with my beautiful hand-crafted 17 ft long cedar strip canoe built by master wooden boat builder Richard Berling, of Madison, WI, based on the Freedom 17 Canoe Design by Steve Killing Yacht Design. The hull of this canoe is built primarily from interlocking bead-and-cove-edged Western Red Cedar strips. The Hull also includes a three dimensional decorative strip extending through the hull on each side from bow to stern. This unique strip is custom designed and fabricated by Mr. Berling from a combination of Western Red Cedar, Mahogany and Poplar.

The design of the decorative strip was adapted from a design used in a fancy parlor floor in 1895. The strip is positioned in the hull to ride approximately four inches above the waterline, so that it is visible above the waterline from the outside when the canoe is floating in the water. The outwales are Sitka Spruce. The seats, thwarts and dished portaging yoke are fabricated from Ash. The decks are Redwood.

There are built-in flotation tanks inside the bow and stern that are each decorated with a canoe design parquet. The wooden hull is encased in six-pound fiberglass cloth impregnated with multiple coats of epoxy resin, before receiving an outer coating of varnish, resulting in a beautiful glossy surface that lets the natural grain of the wood show through. The outwales of the canoe are laser etched at several locations along the port and starboard sides with the name of the canoe "LET FREEDOM RING". Mr Berling also constructed an identical canoe for his personal use that he christened "FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS." As described by the designer Steve Killing, the Freedom 17 canoe features an asymmetrical hull with a slim bow, a maximum beam just aft of the middle and filled out stern sections to reduce resistance. The gently rockered profile lets the boat turn with ease.

Because of the slight tumblehome, this canoe is a wonderful solo boat, but most of the time it can be found in use as a fast, responsive tripping canoe heading off on canoe trips with two avid canoeists on board. The design specifics are as follows:Length 17 feetMaximum beam 33.4"Beam waterline 31.75"Beam gunnel 32.5"Bow height 19.25Centre depth 13.25"Draft 4.25"Displacement 420 lbs.Wetted surface 30.15 sq.ft.Weight to immerse 143.8 lb/inPrismatic coefficient 0.567Weight approximately 50 lbs. Unlike some of the other cedar strip hand-crafted boats for sale in the marketplace, LET FREEDOM RING has a hull number that can be used for registering the canoe, if your state requires canoes to be registered as mine did when I acquired the canoe from Mr. Berling. The canoe was inspected by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and assigned Hull number IL200094K010. This canoe has been in the water only twice, and is in virtually like-new condition. Mr.

Berling took the boat out for a "shakedown cruise" after it was built, and I have had it in the water once, as I generally prefer solo kayaking. It has been stored indoors on special display wall brackets, inverted and resting on its gunwales in my air-conditioned and heated family room when not in use.There are a few very small surface scratches on the hull, and a small cosmetic imperfection in the form of a white area in the fiberglass coating on top of the aft-end flotation tank. See photos. A wonderful and very beautiful boat that is a joy to own whether you are paddling it or just looking at it! Note: The paddles shown in some of the photos are not included in the sale of the canoe.

You will want to get paddles that are the correct design, length and shape to match your build and personal preference for paddling style.