I get this question constantly, so I thought I’d answer it here with a demonstration. Before we get started though, understand that chances of you putting a hole in your skin on frame kayak while paddling are extremely rare. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but of the roughly 1500 Cape Falcon Kayaks that have been...
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Always filming…
Always filming….today we made a tutorial showing how to put a drain plug in a skin on frame kayak. Drain plugs are something I’ve done in the past but not very often because I was on such a tight schedule to get six boats done in six days with six students. It’s also just...
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On YouTube: Scarf Joints for SOF Boatbuilding
Reposting this as a video rather than photos because I like it better this way. Check out the whole video embedded below or on the YouTube channel. Enjoy....
Updated videos on building steambent wooden kayak cockpit coamings
We just uploaded seven brand new videos for how to steam bend skin on frame cockpit coamings to the FREE Skin-on-Frame Kayak Prep Course, available on our website. This series demystifies what is by far the most challenging part about making a skin on frame kayak!...
On YouTube: Adding perimeter lines to a skin-on-frame kayak
New video on the YouTube channel: adding perimeter lines to a skin-on-frame kayak. Perimeter lines can mean the difference between losing your kayak or not in a windy rescue situation....
Canoe build 2: Gunwales prepped
Gunwales prepped for canoe build round 2, and an off-the-cuff video on the why and how of laminated gunwales for skinboats posted to the YouTube channel....
On YouTube: Our new Kayak Storage Fence
Projects in the works mean these needed to move out of the shop. Enter the new integrated storage fence. Short video on the rack system we developed is up on our YouTube channel now. ___This post was originally featured on our Instagram feed.See the original post and discussion here. Follow Cape Falcon Kayak on...
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Designing for Injury
Two important things happened today: 1) I started seeing a new physical therapist, and 2) I decided that if I want to get back on the water this year I’m going to have to start thinking outside the box. Owing to the lightweight and infinite modifiability of skin-on-frame, individuals with injuries are a big part of...
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Where our Wood Comes From
As both a woodworker and an environmentalist,it can sometimes be difficult to reconcile how I make my living with the harm it causes a dwindling resource. In the case of the oak I use to make kayak coamings and ribs, it’s estimated that 99% of the oak savannah that once blanketed the Willamette valley is now...
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Foam Thigh Hooks
For whatever reason, some of us still prefer a keyhole style cockpit. The problem with most home made long cockpits is a lack of positive thigh and knee hooks to keep a good grip on the boat while maneuvering and rolling. Here are some quick and easy knee hooks you can make at home....
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Ted’s Anti-Pop Footbrace Solution
I like the slidelock footbraces better than any other, they allow easy adjustment while paddling, which is important to me because sometimes I am in my boat for 10 or more hours! That said, they have a few problems, the main one being that the spring that holds down the adjuster to lock it isn’t...
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David’s Greenland Foot Pedals
Check out this awesome invention. David Lustgarten decided he needed more foot support for his 1935 Sisimuit Replica Qajaq. So he invented these totally ingenious foot pedals. In his own words: “I thought about a lot of ways to make the bracing; bolting to the gunwales, a rod across like a closet rod, etc. Instead, of...
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Installing a Snap Dragon Back Band
Leaning against the wood gets old in a hurry, not to mention you sit too far back in the cockpit. I like the comfort and simplicity of this band. Be careful during this process, you don’t want to ruin the coaming. Using a 5/32″ spacer, drill a 1/4″ hole in the coaming at the...
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A New Seating Option for the F1
For years I’ve found the best seat for a skin-on-frame boat to be two thicknesses of foam camping pad. Two strips below the ribs on either side, and then a full length pad extending past the feet, (make sure to cut a hole for your pump). I like this arrangement because it gives good...
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Getting to Know Your New F1
You just finished my class, you commissioned a custom boat, you found one used (unlikely), you went mad with desire and snatched it from a guy you saw carrying it up the beach in one hand…. …however you acquired it, congratulations, you are now the owner of one of the single most awesome kayaks ever created, and I...
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