This isn’t a great video but here’s a quick preview of the new flatter deck modification for my modern kayak designs. From the gunwale down this is just a standard F1 built in my size, quick, nimble, stable, basically an SOF SUV, but the front deck exchanges the bold central stringer for a pair...
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Experimenting with a liquid keel strip
Something I’m experimenting with right now is liquid keel strips to add extra wear protection. This is a brand new idea so it’s not something I’m going to be putting in any of my official instructions until I’ve done it a lot more, but for builders who don’t mind taking a risk I will...
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On YouTube: Inside my skin on frame design process
We just posted a brand new video on the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube channel with tons of great eye candy and a deep dive behind the scenes into my design process on the new flat deck sailing/catamaran kayaks. Check it out:...
On YouTube: Retrofitting a secondary stringer into a finished Greenland kayak to improve the stability
Here is an experiment I did to see if I could retrofit a secondary stringer into a finished Greenland kayak to improve the stability. Most historic Greenland kayaks had just a single hard chine, but occasionally you see a small secondary stringer above the main one. This adds a bit of extra volume to...
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More photos of re-steaming and flattening the kayak hull
Just another couple photos of how I flattened the kayak that was a bit too round on the bottom yesterday. Note that I’m not clamping to the deck beams here I’m clamping to sawhorses and cross braces. The kayak started 9 inches deep at the back of the cockpit, I clamped it down to...
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Video: Re-steaming a kayak to flatten the hull
Most people make it through our online skin boat classes without having any issues, but part of what you’re paying for when you purchase my courses is customer support if something goes wrong. You can text or call me anytime day or night, I will ship you free replacement parts even if you broke...
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Ted’s golf caddy canoe cart
I’m deep into updating the plans and videos for the new Greenland kayak which is neither fun nor interesting, so I thought I would share some stuff from my students this week. Ted made this brilliant canoe cart out of a golf caddy. I’ll let him describe how it’s built: “While I have made...
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West Greenland kayak buid: Adding a drop skeg
So before I talk about the skeg on this Greenland kayak I just want be clear that I’m not a big fan of skegs in the first place. In some kayaks a skeg can help with tracking in certain conditions, but they also add significant weight, drag, build time, and cost, not to mention...
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West Greenland kayak buid: Replacing the lashings with nails
I was concerned that the oil in the lashings wasn’t going to dry in time for me to skin the next day, so as a nod to the original museum kayak, I decided to nail the ribs to the stringers and then cut away the lashings. This may be the traditional attachment method for...
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West Greenland kayak build: Adding seating
Even when lengthened beyond their historic size, greenland kayak cockpits are notoriously tight. There’s also nothing for back support, but unfortunately adding a backband like I do in my modern designs creates an entrapment hazard. (Seriously, don’t put a backband in a traditional Greenland Kayak, you could die.) I’ve been experimenting with different solutions...
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Simple deck tie down
While I was working on our kayak sailing system this spring, after much trial and error I settled on this combination sheet-cleat and sail tie-down as part of the system. I had to set the sail system aside to focus on summer projects, but the loop stayed in place and I have to admit...
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Hatches and bulkheads in skin-on-frame kayaks: Peter’s modified F2 kayak
People frequently ask me about hatches and bulkheads in skin-on-frame kayaks. Having gone down this road many years ago I concluded that the time and effort involved is a bit of a mismatch to the simplicity of skin-on-frame. I’m not against hatches, I just think they make more sense in rigid kayaks. It is true, however, that...
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Brass stem bands
It’s incredibly easy for any small boat build to get submerged in unnecessary doodads and gewgaws. I’ve mostly managed to avoid this for the better half of my kayak building career because I was chained to a six-day in-person build schedule that didn’t allow for an ounce of fat. Now that I teach online...
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On YouTube: Installing a suspended seat in a skin on frame kayak
Just posted a video to the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube channel showing a clever method of installing a comfortable seat for a skin-on-frame kayak. This minimalist setup is nice because it maintains a low center of gravity for maximum stability while still providing good support. I generally pair it with a foam mat on...
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On YouTube: Sailing, rowing and catamaran modifications to the nesting canoes
For anyone who is interested I just posted a new video on the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube channel going over all of the latest sailing and rowing and catamaran modifications to the latest batch of nesting canoes. ...