Catamaran | Cape Falcon Kayak

Video: A few clips of canoe catamaran sailing last summer

April 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Just a few clips of Canoe Catamaran sailing the nesting canoes from a YouTube video I’m working on right now. The Canoe Catamaran functionality is built into our system from the ground up, meaning that it’s integrated and standard and not just an afterthought. The sail rig weighs 2-3 pounds (carbon vs aluminum), takes...

On YouTube: Flat Deck F1 in detail

April 2022September 2022Leave a comment

We just uploaded the new Flat Deck F1 building plans to our site, and a video on YouTube talking about the design (with some great old photos of me crabbing in the surf!). If you’re new here these are solo kayaks that can be quickly rafted together for a stable sailing, fishing, hunting, snorkeling...

Building catamaran boards from salvaged wood

April 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Portland has a law that older homes slated to be torn down must be deconstructed which has given rise to an entire salvage industry here. A couple days ago I headed over to Reclaim NW for a smoking deal on some pine and fir for a couple new sets of catamaran boards. I’m not...

Video: drone shots of the kayak catamaran

March 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Here’s a few drone shots of the kayak catamaran testing. Not the best videography because the wind had died down a bit and it’s pretty hard to use the drone in these conditions, but it does give you some idea of how the whole set up works and how it rides the waves. For...

Video: Perfect conditions for testing the kayak catamaran

March 2022September 2022Leave a comment

We had perfect conditions for testing the kayak catamaran yesterday. 65 degrees, overcast, with 15-20 mph winds. (There’s audio here by the way) So how does it work? Surprisingly well actually. We tested two different forward catamaran board positions; one directly ahead of the cockpit, the other right behind the masts. A bit of...

The kayak catamaran is dangerously close to becoming a reality

March 2022September 2022Leave a comment

The kayak catamaran is dangerously close to becoming a reality. I’ve been juggling over a dozen big projects this year so this one had to come together much slower than I would like, but I finally got all the bits together and hopefully we can take it out for sailing trials tomorrow. The attachment...

Video: A few drone clips from the launch of the kayak catamaran prototype

February 2022June 2023Leave a comment

Here’s a few drone clips from the launch of the kayak catamaran prototype. I still need to change the board spacing and modify the attachment system and add a rudder to at least one of the kayaks before we can start rough water and sailing trials. I originally envisioned this as a way for...

First kayak catamaran test

February 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Yesterday I finally had a chance to try the catamaran system on a pair of kayaks. This setup is kind of a worst-case scenario because the bungees aren’t as strong as I normally use, only the back board bridges the width of the kayaks, and one of the kayaks is retrofitted rather than native...

On YouTube: Skin on frame canoe catamaran trip on the John Day River

June 2021September 2022Leave a comment

Just a quick FYI, we finished and uploaded two full length videos about the John Day River Trip to the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube Channel. The first is the full version of all the shorter videos we posted last week, and the second is a video of me talking about the boats and the...

Video: John Day River trip, Day 8 on the river

June 2021September 2022Leave a comment

John Day River Trip, Day 8 on the water. Most people who run this section of the John Day River take out at Cottonwood Canyon State Park, but we decided to go 20 miles further and take out at McDonald Crossing, the historic crossing site for the Oregon Trail. People typically don’t run this...

Video: John Day River trip, Day 7 on the river

June 2021July 2023Leave a comment

John Day River Trip, Day 7 on the water. Having fun with the music on this one. … continued from yesterday, the canoe catamaran system has gone through several evolutions since that first trip. For my pack canoes I put boards directly beneath the self rescue loops that are attached to the top of...

Video: John Day River trip, Day 6 on the river

June 2021July 2023Leave a comment

John Day River Trip, Day 6 on the river. People have probably been catamaraning canoes together since canoes existed but it’s not something you see much these days because modern composite construction isn’t compatible with the immense forces the outriggers place on the structure. How I got interested in this was literally an afterthought....

Video: John Day River Trip, 5th day on the river

June 2021September 2022Leave a comment

John Day River Trip, 5th day on the water. The single most important thing you can do to improve your experience on a river trip is to wake up early. And by early I don’t mean 7, I mean 5. This might not sound like something you want to do on vacation so let...

Video: John Day River trip, 4th day on the river

June 2021September 2022Leave a comment

John Day river trip, 4th day on the water. Camping immediately above a 45° round rock slope made loading the Canoes a bit treacherous the next morning. I often turn the canoes upside down at camp and tie rocks to the seats to keep the strong up canyon winds from stealing them. For whatever...

Video: John Day River trip, 3rd day on the river

June 2021September 2022Leave a comment

John Day River Trip, 3rd day on the river. There’s music here. If you’re wondering why I spent two posts describing a single rapid, it’s because there are four separate articles in travel magazines right now that make the John Day sound like something you can do with zero experience after a quick trip...