North Alaska Replica Kayak Frames, completed.

A month ago I received a commission to build two Northern Inupiat hunting kayak frames built as authentically as possible, as quickly as possible. After consulting with Harvey Golden I chose kayaks 70 and 71 from Harvey’s book, Kayaks of Alaska, I based many frame details on the bare frames and 73.

The coaming and ribs are white oak, a departure from the green softwoods likely used but the only species I have available freshly sawn. All other pieces are white pine purchased from Reclaim NW to approximate the black spruce originals. Lashings are artificial sinews. Pegs are birch.

The smaller frame is 14’L x 19”W x 7” deep and weighs 24 lbs. The larger frame is 16’L x 20”W x 8”D and weighs 26lbs.

Both frames were challenging to build, partially due to the intricacy of the framework and partially due to the fact that we took the task of matching the originals very seriously, constantly backing up and replacing anything that didn’t match the originals closely enough.

Of personal interest to me is the very clear evidence of the underlying construction system. I’m fascinated with building systems in general rather than individual kayaks because a system allows you to scale and customize the kayak for individual uses. I gained a lot of knowledge building these kayak frames that will be useful in my own future kayak designs.

I painstakingly filmed the entire building process and will be creating both time lapse videos and normal speed detailed videos which will be available on my YouTube channel in October. I will also be drawing up a plan set for anyone interested in creating one of these intriguing, but rarely built traditional kayaks.

Thank you to Harvey Golden, Tom Moen, and the Akima corporation for facilitating the creation of the beautiful kayak frames. Harvey’s book Kayaks of Alaska is an incredibly detailed feast of information for the traditional kayak enthusiast and is available on his website: traditionalkayaks.com