On the tip of Tillamook Head I run a bouncy slot to find wave protection within a field of sea stacks. Beautiful and rugged shoreline. Some exciting geology. Pelicans …and Cormorants For once I don’t have to crash through the surf to stretch my legs. I found this quiet little stretch of sand hidden...
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Monday at the Office: One Day in the Paddling Life of a Skin-on-Frame Kayak Builder
Opening my eyes I glance at the clock, eight thirty, but then I realize that it’s actually only seven thirty “yesss!” I whisper. One of life’s little victories that only comes a few days each year. Farewell daylight savings time. Ahead lies cavernous evenings, full of possibility. Writing projects, reading time, slow cooked dinners,...
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Taking it easy: Exploring Utah’s Green River Canyon
Grinding down the pitted gravel road, our shuttle van kicked up a plume of red dust that enveloped the trailer where our kayaks hung from straps. Squinting through the window I looked out over crumbling ochre hills, grasping for the distance and size of pinnacles and mesas. If it weren’t for the sagebrush clinging...
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SC-1 Design Evolution
Skin-on-frame definitely has its drawbacks, but the single most positive thing about building this way is the ability to evolve designs. We build boats, you give feedback, the design changes. My last Mariner inspired skin-boat went through two years of design work and got worse and better throughout the process and is still being...
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Greenland Rolling
Just some random photos of a rolling demonstration I gave at the Depoe Bay Wooden Boat Show. I try all the rolls during the demo, not just the ones I can already do. This time I hit my first forward finish norsaq roll!...
Building the SC-1
The perfect flatwater kayak for beginners.The perfect ocean kayak for surf enthusiasts. The original Coaster was designed by Cam Broze of Mariner Kayaks in 1985. This 23″ wide 13’5″ kayak quickly gained cult status as a superior kayak in the surf. Surprisingly it went on to prove itself as a remarkably versatile sea kayak...
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Copying a Fiberglass Kayak in Skin-on-Frame: Building the SC-1
Note: I built this interpretive copy of the Mariner Coaster with permission.It is not cool to copy someone else’s design work without asking them first. “….lets double check that measurement one more time,” — our motto Taking the breadths with crude calipers. Setting up the gunwales, again and again and again, to get it...
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Camp Cruising the Sea of Cortez: Photo Documentary
Mulege to Ensenada Blanca, 130 miles, 15 days A word about photos: For all but the expert or insane, photography often depicts the moment it is convenient to take photographs. It is for this reason that you’ll not find any photos of Ginny straining to maintain control of the tiller in a nasty afternoon wind...
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Rich’s Photos from Hawaii
Rich and Bailey built kayaks with me last fall. I love hearing from Rich because he is my #1 product tester, using these kayaks in the ferocious open water and surf zones of the Big Island of Hawaii. “We returned to Hawai`i with open arms and realized that icy cold water and weather has...
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Building a Skin on Frame Joel White Pulling Boat
18′ long 54″ beam 21″ depth to sheer amidships I was looking for a double ended rowing / sailing beach cruiser that two people could use for extended camping in semi protected waters. Ben Fuller brought this design to my attention. The boat is similar to a Swampscott dory but carries a bit more waterline, a...
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1834 West Greenland Replica Kayak
1834 West Greenland ReplicaDanish National Museum ca. Lc 4317 1/4′ LOA 20 7/16″ wide 7″ depth to sheer Rich Delong built this replica with me during one freezing cold November week. It was a pleasure building with Rich and his girlfriend Bailey, both are experienced offshore paddlers and will be shipping their kayak back...
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My awesome winter paddle day with Rich and Bailey
A rare and perfect winter paddling day with very experienced students prior to our class. Beautiful glass water and a moderate swell, I wish I had pictures of the rock gardens we were bouncing in and out of, but those are the times to be holding a paddle and not a camera. I had...
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Outrigger Sailing Canoe
Another ocean going craft that answered the call for indigenous people to face rough open water in search of sustenance and new lands was the outrigger sailing canoe. The native settlers of Oceana (the vast sprinkling of islands throughout the pacific) made accurate and planned voyages of thousands of miles before European sailors ever dared...
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Skin-on-frame kayak touring on the Oregon coast
“Maximum saturation adventure” The mission: to kayak south until it becomes dangerous or is no longer fun. On July 10th myself and Don Golden embarked on an ultralight ‘alpine style’ kayak trip down the Oregon coast. 2 days, 40 miles, and 4 scenic capes later we were pinned down by a freak midsummer storm for...
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My Costa Rica Adventure
3/10/05 11pm, 36,000 feet. Somewhere below me in the cargo hold, hopefully, is my luggage. One bag contains a sea kayak that I have only just finished building this afternoon, the other holds shelter, nourishment, amusement, communication, and tools. The basic ingredients for human life. My mind wanders down through the drybags inside of drybags, past...
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