Author Archive

Driftwood Kayak

Saturday, August 19th, 2006

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driftwoodkayak

An amazing greenland style kayak built out of drift and found wood.

It was with uncertainty that I contemplated building a kayak with hand tools out of found wood. To help with the project I collaborated with Kiliii Yu, hunter, forager, and native skills expert. http://www.dancinghawk.com Together over the course of four days we constructed this kayak from wood we found on the beach and in the scrap piles of my wood shop.

Paddling: Third Outing in the SOFs

Friday, August 11th, 2006

Went to the lake with the family and a good friend today. I’m getting more comfortable in the SeaTour and had a blast paddling around the little inlet. I don’t think I’m ready for real waves yet but probably soon. We’re heading out again tomorrow morning before it gets crowded.

Here’s a picture of Hannah carving a turn in her Sea Pup. She’s extremely comfortable paddling and learned the limits of the stability very quickly.

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SOF SeaTour 17M: Rigging

Monday, August 7th, 2006

I started rigging the kayak today. I finished the tabs for the deck rigging and paddle park. I also carved a ball from a block of WRC for the park/handle and sanded the toggles for the deck rigging. I’ll finish the front rigging tomorrow and with any luck actually get to paddle it this weekend.

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You can see my fat Greenland Paddle in this picture. I still need to plane the blades a bit thinner but I wanted to paddle with it before doing so to see if it made much difference. It was carved out of a near perfect green 2×6 WRC that Tony and I found at Home Depot. We had to have looked at 1000 boards before he spotted this one buried amongst the usual crap they sell. I’m now on the prowl for a suitable board for a spare/storm paddle.

Spray Skirt Fabric

Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006

I got the nylon fabric for the spray skirt in the mail this week. It is a little thinner than I expected but it seems to hold water and it is very tough. I’ll be sure to post pictures and a review once I get to paddle with it.

For those curious, I got the 420 Denier Packcloth from Denver Fabrics. It was $5/yd and I got 3 each of red and yellow. Should be enough to make two or three skirts.
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New Pages by John Caldeira

Monday, July 17th, 2006

Garage-Storage.jpgJohn has posted a few nice pages with some great information. I especially love the way he’s got seven kayaks packed into a two stall garage and still has room to spare for his cars.

I may try to make a set of the J racks before my next trip to Gavleston.

Taking Lines From a Kayak
Roof Rack
Storing Kayaks

New Look And New Features

Monday, July 17th, 2006

img_7566 I’m sure that many of you have noticed the new look. Please drop a comment below to let us know what you think. If there are any other features or kayak related services you’d like to see please let us know.

Post Tags:
Directly under each title is the text “Tagged as:”. Clicking on the keywords will take you to a list of similar articles. For example, clicking on SeaRanger will give you a quick list of articles about Tony’s strip built Sea Ranger.
Photos:
Just under the banner above is a Photos link. For the time being it will show Tony’s photo sets with Kayak in the title. I will soon make it so that other author’s photos can appear in the mix. This way you can check out the pictures without leaving the comfort of KayakBytes.

Feeds:
I’ve added a number of links to the right for adding the Kayak Bytes feed to your online feed reader.

Changing Banner:
The graphic in the header will rotate through a series of pictures that Tony or I have taken. If you have an interesting kayak picture that you woulad like us to add to the rotation post a link to it in the comments below. Please make sure that it’s suitable for cropping and resizing to 800×200 pixels.

New Hat:
You should notice the new hat pictured above. Can you belive that Tony actually bought a new hat? Say good bye to those rusty rivets and that salt stained brim. I think maybe he took Kurt’s advice and bought a hat that floats now that he’s got some mad rolling skills.

Book Review: Building the Greenland Kayak

Thursday, July 13th, 2006

0071392378.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgBuilding the Greenland Kayak

I refered to this book a lot while building my Yost style non-folders and found it so well written and informative that I just have to give it a plug here.

Even if you aren’t building a traditional style Greenland kayak there are a lot of good general building tips, design criteria and history that make this book a must read for anyone building a skin on frame. Christopher includes a high level of detail in most areas and maintains a genuine helpful tone throughout. Many of the methods discussed within will usefull if you are using modern materials like the aluminum and plastic frames of a Yost style folder or carving and bending your ribs from driftwood.

The Amazon price is around $12 so it is easy to afford and worth the price soley for the entertainment value.

Triple Launch - Anton’s Story

Friday, July 7th, 2006

We made it to Canyon Lake in one piece and launched about noon. The weather was nice, partly cloudy and mild temperatures. The water is a beautiful blue and reasonably clear.

Hannah really enjoyed the Sea Pup and managed to dump it a few times. She doesn’t have a spray skirt yet so she had to exit each time. Travis even gave it a paddle and except for one trip a bit too far out he enjoyed himself.

The Sea Tour paddled nice. There isn’t a lot of initial stability (at least for my inexperience) but it’s got some secondary stability. I managed to lay back and sit back up a few times. Need to watch a couple more DVDs before I try rolling all the way over. I still need a lot of work on bracing and turning but it’s a fun workout.

Here’s a pic to tide you over till I can write more.

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Sea Tour 17M - Skinned

Tuesday, July 4th, 2006

I finished up the skin today. The pucker in the middle of the cockpit will get taken care of when I glue up the coaming riser. I’m going to make a free standing coaming like Tom does here but using HDPE tubing instead of aluminum. I’ll post more tomorrow on how well that goes.

Working with the glue was a challenge today. It was very humid today (at least for a desert). The MEK and glue evaporate so fast it cools down the vinyl and condensation forms. I didn’t have this problem with the Sea Pup because it was so dry out then.

I’m still on track for a Friday launch. Just need to glue up the coaming tomorrow night and add enough rigging to park a paddle.
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Sea Tour 17M - Hull Lot of Fun

Monday, July 3rd, 2006

I laced up the hull yesterday and pulled it tight before gluing the bow and stern. The process is pretty easy and while the lacing isn’t necessary I think it gives me time to work most of the wrinkles out before stapling. The yellow skin lets a lot more light through than the red does.

I also made a simple backrest out of a piece of pool noodle. I still need to bungee it in place but it should work nicely.

Tonight’s tasks are to make a couple float bags and start gluing the deck in place. I should be able to get to the coaming sometime tomorrow and be ready in time for a launch on Friday or Saturday.
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