Prototyping | Cape Falcon Kayak

Video: Thoughts on using the latest solo/tandem pedal drive canoe

September 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Some thoughts on using the latest solo/tandem pedal drive canoe prototype in solo mode: I love paddling/pedaling this boat! I was afraid that the pedal drive would steal some of the magic of normal canoeing, but it turns out that it’s just a different flavor of addictive. With no paddle tipping in the water...

Video: A cool feature of the new tandem pedal drive canoe

September 2023July 2024Leave a comment

A cool feature of the new tandem pedal drive canoe is that it can be pedaled from either seat if used in conjunction with a reversible Mirage drive. Here I’m pedaling in reverse (Liz is facing forward and steering with the rudder) then I pull the forward lever and Liz pulls the drive and...

Video: First trip in the new pedal drive prototype

September 2023July 2024Leave a comment

First trip in the new pedal drive prototype was exceedingly pleasant, if not quite perfect. Just a recap of yesterday’s post, this new version is 33” wide and 15’6” long and can be used as a day trip tandem for lighter paddlers, or a solo capable of carrying quite a bit of weight. I...

Video: Walkthrough of the second pedal drive canoe prototype

September 2023July 2024Leave a comment

The second pedal drive canoe prototype is finally finished. You haven’t seen much of this canoe yet because I had to choose between documenting the build for social media and actually creating the video course for how to build it. I really want to push this design over the line this year so I...

Video: An on the water ergonomics check

August 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Just another quick trip down to the river to check the fit of a new backrest design, and various other aspects of the ergonomics before I fully commit to those decisions on the current prototype. I was lucky to get a big barge wake for a little bit of rough water testing. Interestingly, the...

Revisiting upwind skin-on-frame sailing

August 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Over the years I’’ve built a handful of skin on frame upwind sailboats, and they worked fine, but at the end of the day I still think that plywood is the better material for the job because it’s stiffer, heavier, and you can build in watertight bulkheads. It’s also just a better match for...

Video: “Land canoeing”

August 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Seems like I’m spending about an hour a day in the driveway right now “land canoeing” while I try to to finalize the backrest and seating details for the next pedal drive canoe prototype. For me ergonomics are everything. ___ This post was originally featured on our Instagram feed. See the original post and...

More progress on the new pedal drive canoe prototype

August 2023July 2024Leave a comment

More progress on the new pedal drive canoe prototype. Started the day by opening up some oak billets that I let sit in plastic for too long, and was not surprised to find them covered in mold. Fortunately, after resawing them into ribs and rounding the edges very little of that actually remained. After...

Building the deck for the next pedal drive prototype

August 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Finally found some time to build the deck for the next pedal drive canoe prototype. This one is a mini tandem/big guy solo and once again, I’m pushing the limits of how small of a canoe I feel like the drive could work in. At 15’6” long, 34” wide, and 12.5” deep, a 325...

Video: One more of the Mirage drive in action

August 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Just one more of the Mirage drive in action. We start on the next prototype tomorrow and I’m gonna try very hard to get plans and videos for this done by the end of August. ___ This post was originally featured on our Instagram feed. See the original post and discussion here. Follow Cape...

Video: A bit of early morning canoe testing

August 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Just a bit of early morning canoe testing. I like the new seat and tiller assembly; steering is exactly where my hands naturally fall and doesn’t shift when I take my hands off the tiller. The drop seat adds a bit more stability to this narrower pedal drive canoe (they can be build any...

Video: Seating upgrade for the pedal drive canoe prototype

August 2023July 2024Leave a comment

I’ve upgraded the seating for the pedal drive canoe prototype. I started out with an 18 inch long flat seat because I thought I would need the thigh support, but I quickly realized that wasn’t actually necessary and it didn’t leave me enough room to sit on the floor of the canoe while sailing....

On the water pedal drive test with Tom

July 2023July 2024Leave a comment

I’m slowly grinding through all the testing that needs to happen to make the pedal drive canoe a reality. Today we tested it with longer legs and larger feet and several different rudder blades. I was holding my breath on the feet because I really can’t lower the flood level any farther, so however...

Video: Testing a Bixpy electric motor with the pedal drive canoe prototype, Part 2

July 2023July 2024Leave a comment

After testing the Bixpy motor in the Hobie Drive slot in yesterday’s post, I switched it to a stern rudder mount. The big advantage of this configuration is that the motor can kick up if it hits an object and also it can be used on any of my canoes, even without the pedal...

Video: Testing a Bixpy electric motor with the pedal drive canoe prototype, Part 1

July 2023July 2024Leave a comment

I bought this Bixpy motor four years ago when I was prototyping the pack canoes. Ultimately, I decided that the weight and the hassle just wasn’t a good fit for an ultralight, ultra-simple canoe, but fast forward to my current project, and the motor doesn’t seem quite as crazy paired with the fundamentally heavier...