For my historic kayak work I tend to focus on early 20th century west Greenland rifle hunting kayaks because they are the easiest for modern paddlers to use, but these are far from the only types that existed.
These two kayaks are replicas of museum kayaks built by Harvey Golden. I really appreciate Harvey‘s replica work because it gives me an opportunity to experience some of the more extreme historic examples that I couldn’t justify the time to build myself. I also like how Harvey has a knack for making some thing that was built yesterday look like it’s 100 years old. I borrowed these two for an afternoon to grab some video footage for an upcoming project.
Roughly 17 inches wide and 19 feet long, the more extreme of these two was collected in 1789. The exact function of the swoop in the tail is not known, but it disappeared as rifle hunting came into prominence. Harvey and I differ strongly in our opinions of how this kayak paddles, I find it to be a bit sluggish and stiff although I will admit that it edge turns surprisingly well considering it’s width and shaping.
The simpler looking kayak is actually a copy of the oldest known Greenland kayak, collected in 1606. It’s a bit more user-friendly at 18 1/2 inches wide and 17 1/2 feet long but the bottom shape does not create much stability. Interestingly, this oldest example shows strong shaping similarities to the much larger Labrador kayaks. With a prominent forefoot and no tail skeg to speak of, it spins on a dime, but also weathercocks aggressively in the slightest crosswind. It’s a lot of fun to paddle, if not an entirely practical kayak. Note the older Greenland paddle shape which contradicts the popular notion that Greenland paddles only look the way they do because wider wood was not available.
I’ll try to post a couple video clips in the coming days. Note the interior shapes of both kayaks.
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