Kayak Building

My brother was unable to participate in a skin on frame kayak building class he signed up for, so I took it instead (though he paid for it, so will keep the kayak). It was an enjoyable experience - long days (10-11 hours many days) doing new (for me) interesting work with interesting people.

The class was taught by Brian of Cape Falcon Kayak. He was a good instructor: fun, skilled, and laid back while managing to maintain a good schedule.

Due to previous commitments I arrived a couple days into the 8 day class. This is more or less what it looked like when I started.



Putting the ribs in was somewhat of a challenge for me. Remembering the saying to measure twice, cut once would have been a good idea. We eventually got them all in though.



With keel.



Sam sanding off some rough edges.



All oiled up. The wood is yellow cedar with the exception of the oak ribs.



The "skin" is 9oz nylon. Brian had a handy tool to burn/cut through it.



All sewn up with combing on.



Kitty chose to give her kayak some color. Everyone else opted for the uncolored opaque look.



Ready for some protective coating.



We coated the kayaks with a few layers of urethane to waterproof them and increase their durability.



After the coating had dried and our paddles were finished (we also made our own greenland style paddles out of cedar) we took the kayaks out for a bit.



Most of us stayed relatively close (within a half mile) of where we launched, but Keith and Sam decided to paddle the 5 or so miles back to town. As you can see, Sam didn't have too much trouble carrying the kayak by himself after arriving back in town.