Here
is an easily made article that adds to the comfort of your
rowboat trip. It need hardly be said that it may also be made
and attached to a canoe or any type of small boat. The first
and hardest part to make is the base block shown in Fig. 3.
It is fashioned out of two pieces of hard wood. If you have no
small saw, you can cut it to shape with a common hand saw by
exercising your stock of patience. Finish by sandpapering and
giving two or three coats of oil and one of good varnish. The
lower ends of the upright sticks are inserted as in Fig. 4.
One of them is in the center slot and one on each side of it.
A short bolt passes through the three.
The joint used for fastening
the upright sticks to the cross sticks on top is shown in Figs.
5 and 6. The sticks should be of seasoned ash about
one-inch square. You can get them at a carriage shop or repair
place, or lumber yard. The putting on of the canvas is too
simple to require explanation. Simply stretch it over the top,
draw it down the side a few inches, and tack it in place. The
shade may be tilted in any direction or laid flat. It may also
be taken off the boat quickly by unscrewing the four nuts that
hold it. If you do not intend to remove it when not in use,
have the nut under the seat and the head of the bolt on top
instead of the opposite way, as it would be easy for some one
to appropriate your shade for their own use.