Pegging & Lashing Gunwale Caps

Now that the ribs were all in, some of the final finishes needed to be added to the canoe. This meant setting the gunwale caps whose function is to protect the gunwale lashings from abrasion during the paddle stroke. The caps were made from a final 3ft long piece of cedar that I had be safeguarding since making the actual inwales and outwales. This piece had a natural bend in it and when split down the middle, I ended up with 2 pieces that would serve nicely as caps. They were planed down to 1/16", cleaned up with the knife and then, taking a lesson from steam bending the cherry strips on the 17th C. kayak paddle, I put the cedar caps into my steaming rig for a few minutes. After this initial heat treatment, they were pliable enough to follow the bend of the gunwales and could be clamped into place with clothes-pins.


Split cedar stock; Steaming in the kitchen; Bent onto gunwales
To actually secure the caps, they need to be pegged. This involved soaking the structures with boiling water to soften them up and using the awl to pierce a hole through the cap and into the inwale. Toothpicks were used for pegs, but it a full scale boat, square pegs makes more sense so that they bite and hold their position more firmly. Each peg was located at every 2nd rib position and once into the wood, each peg was given a light tap with a wooden mallet. These were then cut flush with the knife.


Piercing with the awl; Tapping in pegs with mallet; Cutting pegs flush
The last pegs were place just past the end thwarts where at this point, lashing secures the caps in place. The lashing in this case goes over the caps and the gunwales. Using the fresh roots I collected myself, I tried to make it decorative by using a cross-over pattern behind the headboards, but had to use a simple overlap lashing on the tips because of lack of space to maneuver the root.


Cross-Over lashing; Simple lashing on ends


Completed gunwale cap lashing

Apart from any final touchups, all that's left is gumming the exterior!