Sailing Systems | Cape Falcon Kayak

Video: A quick view of our pop up sail rig

June 2020September 2022Leave a comment

Just a quick video of our pop up sail rig. The rig tucks tightly out of the way and doesn’t interfere with normal paddling until you’re ready to deploy it. One hand pops a ball bungee, then a quick tug on the halyard with the other and you’re ready to sail. The sheet can...

We spent the last couple days building the sail

June 2020September 2022Leave a comment

We spent the last couple days building the sail rigs for the latest canoe set. This simple pop-up sail rig is some thing that I worked very hard designing as a way to take advantage of favorable winds without resorting to the sort of aggravating canoe sail contraptions that usually don’t work very well...

Video: Sailing the pack canoe

April 2020September 2022Leave a comment

When I was designing the pack canoes I came up with the idea for a little pop-up sail that would hinge off of the lower part of the stem, using the end of the canoe itself as the mast partners. It folds unobtrusively out of the way and stays in the canoe all of...

Row/sail canoe for sale (SOLD)

March 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Row/sail canoe for sale (UPDATE: SOLD) I build a LOT of prototypes when I’m working out new designs, which means I can’t get sentimental about hanging onto things. This latest little row/sail canoe was an exploration in building something of roughly Adirondack guideboat proportions using my canoe building system and adding a little sail...

Skin-on-frame row/sail canoe version 2, impressions

March 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Skin-on-frame row/sail canoe version 2, impressions:. For those who haven’t been following along this project was an attempt to make a small row/sailboat using my super easy canoe building system. I was curious how far a free bent system would scale up and how the shaping formula would perform at larger scales. The boat...

Day 14: Row/sail canoe, version 2

February 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Day 14, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 5hrs. Woke up to beautiful light in the shop and started working out a flotation strategy. I want to have easy options from bare boat photoshoot/protected water rowing mode, to svelte grey pool noodle light air summer sailing mode, to big yellow repurposed inflatable fenders middle...

Day 13: Row/sail canoe, version 2

February 2019July 2023Leave a comment

Day 13, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 7hrs. A huge disappointment today, I’m having difficulties with the shape of the canoe due to the heavy skin I put on it. It’s worth a detailed explanation so I’ll tackle that in a separate post. Got all the pieces together today and started setting things...

Day 12: Row/sail canoe, version 2

February 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Day 12, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 2hrs. Webbed the canoe seat copying the commercial seats I’ve purchased. I have a compressor and a 1/4 crown pneumatic stapler so I was able to do it the exact same way as the pro seats. Not sure how you could do it otherwise. I set...

Day 9: Row/sail canoe, version 2

February 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Day 9, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time:4hrs. Put a coat of oil on the frame. I’m pretty sure the instructions don’t say “use at 36 degrees” but sometimes you have to bend the rules. I use Watco Danish Oil because it penetrates well, dries fast, and is reasonably inexpensive. The reality is that...

Day 8: Row/sail canoe, version 2

February 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Day 8: Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 4hrs. With 8 coats of varnish on I brought the spars out of the basement to get some real world measurements for the mast partners. One thing I’ve always liked about historic small boats is the generous use of sheet copper, sometimes to protect the mast....

Day 1, Row/sail canoe, version 2

February 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Day 1, Row/sail canoe, version 2. Build time: 6hrs. 15’ LOA, 39” beam, 14.5” depth center, 21” height ends. Started the day by burning a $90 board that had hidden stress fractures. This is why I hate working with CVG fir. Heavy, splitty, and expensive. Unfortunately it’s literally the only thing I can get...

Video: Day 21, Skin-on-frame rower-sailer

February 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Day 21, Skin-on-frame rower-sailer. Test sail. Took the boat down to a variably breezy and cold Columbia river today for a quick shakedown sail. Stability is nice, it sits on a narrow waterline but hardens up considerably as you approach capsize. The fullness of the hull towards the ends makes it fairly insensitive to...

Day 20, Skin-on-frame rower-sailer

February 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Day 20, Skin-on-frame rower-sailer. Build time: 5 hrs. Spent the morning rigging the boat with all the usual last minute modifications. Set it up, take it down, set it up, take it down. I usually do my initial rigging with cheap polypropylene rope and the once I’ve sailed a few times I’ll replace it...

Day 16, Skin-on-frame rower-sailer

January 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Day 16, Skin-on-frame rower-sailer. Build time: 2 hrs. My level of varnishing experience is clearly visible and that is not a compliment. Ran out of Rapid Clear much faster than expected and switched over to an old can of Z-spar. Luckily I have a few more coats and plenty of sandpaper to get things...

Day 15, Skin-on-frame rower-sailer

January 2019September 2022Leave a comment

Day 15, Skin-on-frame rower-sailer. Build time: 1 hr. Started the long, toxic, expensive, annoying process of varnishing all the bits. Generally speaking I’m fanatically anti-brightwork for all the reasons I just listed, and on anything but a row/sailboat I just slap a few coats of pine tar/tung oil mix on whatever needs it and...