14' Monfort Arrow 14 Canoe (2021) - JOY

I built Joy, a 14ft skin on frame canoe, Arrow 14 designed by Platt Monfort, with a clear vinyl skin in my small shop just outside Asheville, NC in 2020 – 2021.
My brother, who inspired me to build the boat, sent me the link to a varnish. E-p-i-f-a-n-e-s. Epiphanys. And that is boat building in one word.

This build has been one long awakening, from learning that I need to ask for help – to knowing that there are now things I can do on my own. When someone recently asked me how long it took me to build the canoe, I said 6 months. But then I calculated – in reality, Launched in August of 2021, I began in early November 2020. That makes it nine. No mistake, it’s a birth at best. But it is also a death as well, a death of the old me, shrouded in a struggle to present a perfect persona.

I want to introduce you to Joy, my first boat, transparent, with all the faults visible, repaired ribs, awkwardly glued breasthooks, slightly skewed knee stem, it’s all here for you to see. She may not travel straight or have a fair curve but she floats.

Joy is a lightweight (36 lbs) canoe built with local pine, oak ribs, Caribbean mahogany, spalted maple, and cherry. Platt Monfort designed it to be much lighter using Dacron skin, but at the suggestion of my brother, I used 30 mil vinyl which added to the weight.

Paddling around Lake Julien in South Asheville allows me to see the murky bottom. I also get plenty of stares as the boat from a distance looks as though there is no skin. If you are a first time boat builder, these skin on frame boats from Geodesic Aerolite are a great way to ease into creating something beautiful and practical.