Reports from other builders

I have built 5 sof boats using willow ribs. Here in Iowa there are plenty of willows near the rivers and streams. We call them river willows and I am unsure of the species.Most of my boats are built in the winter months. I have found the shoots that grow nearest to the water work the best for me. I have harvested shoots 50 to 100 feet back from the rivers edge and higher up on the sand bars and had no luck bending them without breaking. A the same time of year I have havested shoots that are growing in the moist sand or soil within a few feet of the water and had excellent luck in bending them. I also keep them in a bucket with a few inches of water and they stay fresh for a week or so.

.. the willows worked so well I have not seen any reason to use anything else in the greenland boats I have made.

Metaphysics of rib gathering

There is something compelling about gathering your own building materials. I think it has something to do with our hunting and gathering heritage. We remember every place where we have ever caught a fish or killed an animal or found gathered material for ribs because what links them all is survival. We have a special process for remembering where we encountered something useful, something that has kept us alive.

Paul Day from Kalgoorlie, Western Australia writes:

First Letter:

I recently completed the frame on my first kayak and would like to say thank you for the info and insight that your books have been. After spending 2 weekends trying to steam ribs I read one of your books where you wandered off to the woods for some willow twigs. Next weekend the kids and I went bush to a stand of Eucylptus saplings and had a ball cutting and fitting ribs to the boat on site. A problem was solved. The next boat should be a very different creature indeed.

Second Letter:

I was fortunate yesterday to sit down with a local aboriginal fella who put me on the right track regarding River red gum they traditionally use the roots for tool wood. This includes clubs, woomeras, all types of spears, digging sticks and bent frames for wiljas (huts). The reasons are as follows.

1. The roots are usually sitting about a foot down in wet sand or silt. when you dig the roots you can get a drink and a feed of tubers.
2. The roots can be very long, 20 feet or more and constant diameter, or thicker for clubs etc.
3. The roots don't have growth rings like the wood and are not prone to splitting and twisting when they dry. The wood is quick to dry and becomes naturally waterproof!

This is the process he described to me.
To locate a root start digging around a tree about 20' out until you locate a suitable root which you then follow. the roots willhave a few bends.peel off the skin with your fingers. The lenghts of root can be left in wet sand until you are ready to staighten or bend them. Straightening involves heating the section to be straightened over a small fire and bending between your feet.

If making hoops for eel traps you find a hollow log and coil the root into it and keep it wetfor a few days (sustitute a bin or 60 litre bin) this also works for ribs for bark canoes.

This came from somebody who knew how to build a canoe yet lives thousands of kilometres from a river, and would see a big lake only a dozen times in his life.

The drying and tempering process is quite clever. Us silly westerners go to great lengths to speed up the seasoning process, but the locals simply light a fire on some river sand, place the spear in a shallow trench and cover it overnightin hot sand. If its a cold night you can put your swag over the hot sand as well! The wood is extremely tough after this process. The tip can be fire hardened and ground to a fine sharp edge, or used for digging the hard clays the desert. I think that this little insight is quite a break through for me and next weekend's experiments will be along the lines of bending and sand drying some redgum, and the new axe handles I carved this week.

The Oleander test is going well. I bent a 3/4 stick 2 weeks ago and after some drying I've now cleaned up an inner and outer surface, Bent it more and left it to dry more. It now holds its shape and is feeling stiffer. It has a really nice curve to it.