Sweet Solo Canoe Yoke Plans

I’ve long admired Martin Step’s canoe builds. His cedar strip canoe builds are works of art. Years ago, he posted pictures of a solo canoe yoke that seemed impossibly beautiful and functional. Martin recently released plans for his Agawa Bay Solo Canoe Yoke. If you’re looking for a unique yoke plan, it’s worth checking out.

The plans show you how to build a contoured yoke and then build the attachment system. The attachment system requires some modification to a solo canoe’s wooden gunwale, but after that’s complete it should be easy to detach and attach the yoke to the gunwales. If you don’t want to build the yoke, you can use a commercially available yoke instead and just build the attachment system. That’s what I’m considering doing.

The plans are detailed enough to make the build easy to understand, and because the attachment system requires specialized parts, he lists where to buy them or how to make them. He even tells you how he modified a carriage bolt to make it work. If you can find long stainless steel hex drive button head bolts, you can avoid having to do the carriage bolt modification.

While I haven’t tried it, yet, it looks like a no fuss system that solves some of the issues that I’ve had with other solo yokes. Some of the issues I’ve had in the past include clamps sliding around between uses, so you always have to readjust them before clamping them onto the gunwales. The other issue is slippage on long, tough portages – mainly uphill bushwhacks but also on some road walks.

Martin also sells plans for John Winters’ canoe designs ranging from solos to 28-foot voyageur canoes, including a racing version. One big seller for Martin are plans for his custom seat design.

Check at Martin’s cedar strip canoes, canoe plans, canoe seat plans and solo yoke plans at Green Valley Canoe Works.

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