Of all the things I build, the Adirondack Guide Boat is by far the most beautiful. Constructed in skin-on-frame that natural lines are even more mesmerizing. Far from the simple construction of a kayak, I like to joke that guide boats are “dangerously close to real boat building.” The work is precise and time consuming,...
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Everything Old is New Again: Designing a Skin-on-Frame Whitewater Kayak
As much as we like to think design is progressive, it’s often cyclical. As every sport is fractioned and specialized, so much is focused on what is being gained, until one day, someone stops to notice what we have lost. You get back on that old Centurion ten speed with 27 inch wheels, and...
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Adirondack Guideboat, Version 2.0
A while back I built two skin-on-frame Adirondack Guideboats following John Gardeners survey of the Virginia. My writeup of those first two boats can be found here. Then I spent five years rowing, fishing, hauling logs, camping, and leaving them out in the rain. When it comes to getting to know a boat, there is...
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Building a Belcher Islands Kayak Frame from Driftwood with Hand Tools
Me: “Belcher where?”Harvey: “They’re on the east side of Hudson Bay.”Me: “You’re talking to a guy who didn’t know where Kansas was until last week.” This spring I received a very unique commission. A gentleman contacted me with a photo of a soapstone print depicting an Eskimo and his kayak. The print had been given...
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The Vulcan Surf Project: Modified Fiberglass Squirt Boat
Everything I ever needed to know about life I learned while surfing. I learned that no one approach will work every day. I learned that some days are going to be better than others, but even in the worst of days there is an optimal flow. Harmonizing with this flow may mean being aggressive or yielding,...
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1935 Sisimuit Replica Greenland Kayak
Canadian Museum of CivilizationLength: 17′ 1/4″Beam: 19-5/8″ I like the integrated skeg, secondary chine, and strong sheer in the bow. The footroom is better than average too, 10 vertical inches! Collected from the town of Sisimuit in 1935, this beautiful, curvy hunting kayak is the real thing. I’ve built over fifty of these with students....
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1926 Sisimuit West Greenland Replica Kayak
This replica qajaq was built on commission for Ed Zachowski, the original was built in Sisimuit in 1926. The sequence shows the construction phases from survey drawing to paddling on the water. Note the dramatic sheerline and the lack of lashings on the hull. The kayak is fastened with 1 1/4 galvanized nails. Barely...
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Early 20th century East Greenland Kayak Replica
Greenland National Museum, Nuuk. Ca. mid 20th century18’1″ LOA 18 1/2″ Beam 6 3/4″ depth to sheer The mysterious East Greenland kayak, ultra low volume, fast, maneuverable. Let’s be clear, there is not a lot of stability in a boat of this type. The kayak will spear through all but the smallest waves. It...
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Rhino: Experimental Skin-on-Frame Surf Kayak
What’s up with the Rhino? Well… since the text and photos below were posted, I’ve built 3 more of these, and I just can’t get it quite right. The boat does everything it’s supposed to do, holds in tight on a wave with good speed and clean cutbacks, and functions OK as limited range cruiser. I’d...
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1931 Disko Bay West Greenland Replica Kayak Delivered the Old fashioned Way
1931 Disko Bay Greenland replica kayak20 inches wide, 6 1/2 inches deep, 16’4″ long Oh how I love the 1931! As a designer I like the lightly aft trim, flat tail rocker, progressive bow rocker. As an artist the perfect proportions and subtle recurving gunwales pull my eyes into the shape. As a paddler I appreciate...
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Tyak: Custom Multisport Racing Kayak
I should start by saying that I hate racing kayaks. Fragile, expensive, tippy, and enough wetted surface to insure that each stroke feels like it’s planted in molasses. For many years I have synonymized racing with toil and drudgery, the truth behind those long sexy kayaks. It seems like every year the idea resurfaces,...
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Experimental Boats
With such an easy and painless means of prototyping at hand why not build outlandish and improbable boats! I call this one-off creation, Small Craft Advisory. It is essentially the bottom profile and rocker of a windsurfboard built up to a canoe. Bamboo and ABS pipe make a poor mans’ outrigger. It is unique in blending...
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Nineteenth Century West Greenland Kayak Replica
Catalog #176 Fram Museum, Oslo, Norway17’10″L 20 7/16″W 7 1/4″D 25lbs Every winter I invite a few brave souls to the cold dark shop to prototype the kayaks for the new year. This year Zach from Savannah, Georgia, made the trek to build a copy of this traditional Greenland hunting kayak. This Type V (see...
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The Skin-on-Frame Adirondack Guide Boat
Originally designed to access the interior of the Adirondack wilderness, the guide boat is a miracle of ultralight engineering. Meticulously crafted, the original planked guide boats weighed seventy pounds yet could carry a thousand. This enabled the boats to traverse the many portages and link the many lakes and rivers in these glacially carved mountains. My...
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Photo tour of 1931 Southwest Greenland kayak replica
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