boatbuildlog

Design

Hiawatha 16

Designed by Jacques Mertens

The largest Hiawatha canoe, 15 ft 5 in overall, drawn by Jacques Mertens for Bateau / Boat Builder Central as plan HC16. A double-chine plywood hull in the style of traditional Native American canoes, with high recurved ends and strong sheer. Molded beam is 39 in and estimated weight is 60 lb in 6 mm okoume or 75 lb in meranti. The Chenoa is the single-chine equivalent.

Stitch and glue with no molds, lofting or scarfing: panels are cut from standard plywood sheets and joined with butt blocks. The designer asks for no woodworking skills and gives 20 to 25 hours for the hull plus up to 20 to fair and paint. Budget 50 to 90 for a first build. Logged build hours for this design are shown below.

What building a Hiawatha 16 actually takes

Medians from the build logs kept on this site, not the designer’s estimate. Nobody has logged this boat here yet, so they are empty until the first builder does.

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Boats like this one

Same type, closest in length.

Design Plans from LOA Logs
Chenoa 16 Bateau 15′ 5″ (4.7 m) 0
15' Kajak Boatkits 4.7 m (15′ 5″) 0
Lynnhaven 16 Touring Canoe Dudley Dix Yacht Design 15′ 5″ (4.7 m) 0
15' 6" Voyager Newfound Woodworks 15′ 6″ (4.72 m) 0
microBootlegger Sport Chesapeake Light Craft 15′ 6″ (4.72 m) 0
Moccasin Double Canoe B&B Yacht Designs 15′ 6″ (4.72 m) 0