Chum Canoe Plans

The canoe plans are for the 15' Chum.  Chum is a wonderful full bodied fifteen foot wood strip canoe and as most of our plans, were driven by the desires of our customers.  Chum's bottom is a bit wider and a bit flatter than most wilderness trippers offering both an acceptable tripper canoe as well as a relaxing day out for the family.  For full disclosure, we should recognize that this design is inspired by the classic Chestnut Canoe Company design of the same name.

Over the past few years, we have received a number of requests from customers asking if they could reduce the Billington canoe plans to a 15 foot canoe.  Unfortunately because of the hull design of that particular canoe, it does not lend itself to lengthening or shortening very easily.  Chum was designed from the ground up to have many of the same family friendly design elements of the Billington, but still be able to crossover to a well behaved solo canoe for flat waters.

Those of you who have spoken with us before, know that we are not believers in using the term "great all around canoe" as every canoe has it's own personality, abilities and qualities.  When designing canoe or kayak plans, there are trade offs for everything.  Stability, speed, tracking, river vs. lakes and so on.  Having said that, Chum will fit the gill for a good many outings.

If you feel your outings will have more than two passengers, then you should consider the Billington canoe plans or the Sebago canoe plans for a bit more space.

We are very happy with the results and are sure you will be as well.  The canoe uses very little rocker to facilitate easy tracking when paddled solo and has enough tumblehome to allow the solo paddler to dig in and spin her around with little effort.  When paddling with two, she rides stable and smooth, allowing the paddlers to sit up high in the seats and only having to kneel if you are trying to achieve greater speeds for longer distances.

We strongly recommend that you purchase the streaming video with the plans. However, we realize that for some of you this may not be your first time building a strip boat and have given you the option.