I was watching video about a fella that floats big rafts on the Yukon as a business, taking tourists along. His name is Neil Eklund..Anyhoo There is a wood boat in the video, built similar to a big punt, probably lapstrake construction.
I've seen other references to DIY boats. I think somewhere I read that Stan Z made a boat from spruce.

Where do I find more info on boats like these? I've done web searches and have come up with dingey style boats but nothing like a Yukon river boat.

All of the homemade wood boats I am familiar with are just sort of made by "ear" no plans. I suspect most are just copies and slight changes from older versions.

I watched an old man and his wife ( both in their late 60's) whipsaw spruce planks and build a 32 footer. A tree root with the correct bend was used as the stem and similar roots were ripped to create the knees in the ribs.

This is their raft on the Yukon River. Thanks for the post. Knew his Dad fairly well and might look him up.

I've spent a fair amount of time around Neil. He has a lot of stories most would find interesting. Haven't seen him for some time tho. Used to be guys from a few Yukon R. villages who made wood boats. They were plywood tho. Also a guy or two in western Alaska who made plywood boats. Not sure anyone makes them anymore.
mt

Two guys made them here. One from spruce and the other from the old gym floor from the school. Like white17 said no plans. Just collecting looked at other boats and asked questions to fill in the rest.

Checkout Devlin boats and Glen L boats. Both have pretty good forums and plans for homemade wooden boats. I would think some of the dorys or skiff would be prefect for what you are looking for.

That had to be something to watch! Did you happen to take any pictures?

Everyone had wooden boats as I was growing up, designed like pacific skiffs, most people draw up their own plans or just start putting together, no one has any now, I was planning on building one sometime to bring back memories of using them

thanks for the replies. I figured that the boats were probably built by winging it. They probably had some examples to examine. I would like to build a smaller version but have nothing to work with as a example.

No I didn't. That was in the early 1970's before digital cameras and .back then......it seemed like the normal thing to do.

What really amused me was seeing the old man insist that his wife be the one in the pit below the saw. The two were from different language groups and did not speak each others language. They both DID speak some English. That was the way they communicated.

https://www.nfb.ca/film/nahanni/

I believe there are some good pictures of the boat you describe here. If not, it's just a real cool documentary of the past. They don't make em like this anymore.
On another note i have the identical packbag shown tat he uses to ferry his gear around the falls. It came from York Factory in the 20's or 30's and was given to me by my ex wife's father who worked at the trading post as a carpenter. i've had some of the straps repaired and re rivit'd but the canvas is still intact.

WOW That is a great video ! It sure brings back a lot of memories !! Heavy loads, rough water and outboards with shear pins !! No PFD ! Also brought back lots of memories seeing him dip that can in the river to get a drink. Always used the same can to bail out the bilge ))

I have to wonder if/why he didn't cache some gear above the falls. Certainly he must have left a boat above the falls.

The boats I am familiar with were narrower and pointed bows

Thanks Metis !!

There's some golden video on that site. NFB made some interesting film on the north, sometimes its pretty skewed but what are you gonna do. There's also some good Iniut video and another gem https://www.nfb.ca/film/survival_in_the_bush/

at least there's a place where some of this old stuff still exists, i look around in here regularly

Every fall i run a small river with a little 5 horse and about 30 shear pins moosehunting but as i get older i know those days are numbered. It remindeds me that i should make a good video for my kids and grandkids before i can't do it anymore.

Thanks for the heads up !! I'll check it out !!

This is a fantastic step by step video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C22Crc7XHoI

Thanks for sharing the video it was great! That guy had some endurance and drive few have these days. Couldn't imagine packing everything over the falls then building a new boat..

That does sound like quite the show to sit back and watch.

It was quite enlightening !! The guy had absolutely no concept of numbers or measurements. Couldn't read a tape measure. He made all his measurements with a stick that had notches in it.

Sealed all the seams with molten spruce pitch. Really old school. I learned a lot.

Chinked with Usnea and spruce pitch ?

chinked with anything cotton