North Alaska replica kayak frame build, Day 18. Today was long. It seems like every day we start the day deciding to replace something we made the previous day. In this case it was one of the coamings which, while accurate for the type, just looked too thin. So we ripped, planed, and steamed a new one that is still within historic parameters and looks a lot nicer.
After that Tom worked on the deck stringers while I spent the rest of the day carving the wide and deep hollowed keel ends I spoke of yesterday. I am humbled that it took what seemed like every power tool in my shop to create something that was originally built with just a few basic hand tools. Even with the power tools the process was painstaking and time consuming. In Harvey’s book Kayaks of Alaska there is a picture of a native kayak builder with a huge grin holding his finished carved end piece. I can only assume he is this happy because he finally finished it.
The exact size and shaping of these keel ends was not clear to me from the books, the survey drawings, or Harvey‘s notes so I’m hoping I got it right.
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