When i used to work in Chicago I would walk by the Eddie Bauer store downtown, on Michigan Ave., and look at the 6 wood strip canoes they had on display. I asked onece if they were for sale, and was told that they were not, but that i could order one just like them, for $2500. this was about 2001, so the price has probably changed. Epoxy and varnished cedar strips nailed to closely spaced wood ribs. No glass. I don't remember the name of the company which made them, but they did say these were made in Canada.

At Canoecopia, held each year near Easter in Madison WI, there are usually two (or more) companies displaying cedar strip boats for sale, or kits to make them. One is an Adirondack Guide Boat company, and the others seem to vary.

Several years ago there was a visitor to this board who was thinking of setting up a woodstrip boat-building venture in South-East Asia. He was hoping to increase employment in an area with a lot of labor available, but few jobs, and he thought that the simplicity of materials and tooling made this type of boatbuilding a good fit. Then we didn't hear anything from him again. I'm not sure if these two items are connected, but about 3 years ago I saw a parked car, carrying two wood strip canoes, at a rest area in Indiana and I approached the driver. Perhaps we got off to a bad start, but he was pretty shaky on details about the boats he was carrying--which is unusual. He did say that the boats he had were from Vietnam, and that they were samples he was trying to sell. He didn't mention a price, or what outlets he was trying to sell them through, or anything about the designs.

So, yes, wood strip canoes and kayaks are being made commercially, but the time involved in constructing them, and the transportation costs for moving them, limit them to expensive boats which are usually made close to where they are used.

PGJ