I think the best design for your trip would be a fairly long canoe, probably something 18 to 20 feet long. That is about 6 meters to 6.5 meters. That would give you the tracking, speed and carrying capacity--as well as leg room for everyone. I know of one or two designs for big canoes -- but none of them are commercially available as plans or kits for stitch and glue construction.

So...would you feel comfortable with adapting some existing plans so that you could build it by a stitch and glue method, or would you consider building the boat from cedar strips?

Top design on my list would be an E.M. White design for a Maine Guide canoe. It is 18.5 feet long and 34 inches wide. You can get books by Jerry Stelmok or Gil Gilpatrick which have plans for this design. Stelmok's book describes how to build this boat in a traditional cedar plank over rib style. Such a boat would usually be covered by canvas and painted. Gilpatrick's book describes building this design with edge-glued cedar strips, which are covered with fiberglass and epoxy resin. I know Gilpatrick's book has plans for the building forms. They are reduced in size and need to be enlarged on a copy machine, or by redrawing them. I'm not sure about the format of any plans in Stelmok's book, but I believe plans are included.

With Gilpatrick's set of plans you could create building forms. If you wanted to build this boat as a stitch and glue design you would draw the forms, then cut them 1/2 inch (about 13mm) inside the line so you had forms which were smaller than the original desing. These smaller forms would be set up on your workbench or strongback. You would then attach 13mm-thick strips to these forms. put a strip at the gunwales, and one along the keel line. Then space strips so that they are about 100-150 mm (4 to 6 inches) apart at the middle of the boat. The strips will stabilize the building forms and give you a framework to build on.

If you set a piece of plywood on this framework you can trace the outline of the panels you'll need. get the lines for one, then stack two pieces of plywood and cut a pair of pieces at the same time. Start at the keel and work down to the gunwales, assembling the pieces as soon as you cut them. You may want to start by cutting 6 inch wide strips of plywood and scarf them into long lengths, then trim them to the right shape. The parts are wired together in the usual manner. If you assemble them over the building forms you can ensure the shape will be right.

For a boat this length I'd use 5.2 to 6mm (nominal 1/4 inch) plywood, and cover it on both sides with 6 ounce glass fabric and epoxy resin. If you want to build with 4mm marine plywood use more glass, perhaps two layers of 4 ounce cloth on both sides.

You'll end up with a multichine hull which will still requre you to hand fit gunwales, end decks, thwarts and seats in the conventional manner.

As for the Taiga-- It is a 17 foot boat which would be fine for two adults, or even two adults and a teen on a short trip. But I think it would be too cramped for 4 people for even a short trip. Consider this: If 17 feet is suitable for three people, with an 18.5 foot boat you are only giving the 4th person an additional 1 1/2 feet of space. That is still pretty tight.

If you get Gilpatrick's book you might want to look at a larger boat he has, the Grand Laker. It is also a cedar strip design, but you can modify it--or any other cedar strip design-- by using the process I've described.

2500 km in 2 months is about 40 km a day on average. But you'll probably want to aim for 60 to 70 km on half of your days, so you can take time for sightseeing, shopping to replace provisions, days to rest up, layovers during bad weather, etc. I hope your trip is enjoyable, and not merely exhausting.

Just some ideas. Good luck with your project. Hope this helps

PGJ