-
Kayak Skeg Stuck? A Simple Fix
If your sea kayak skeg gets stuck, use a cord to free it; alternatives include wire or household items. It's a simple fix that should be standard on sea kayaks. Act Now and Get the Fix.
-
A Special Siskiwit LV Built
Back 2020, Jan picked up a Siskiwit LV Sea Kayak Drawing and decided to build a modified sea kayak from the drawings. He recently wrote about what he did and how it turned out: “At the beginning of the pandemic I bought the plan from you. Although you did not recommend modifying the sizes, I tried it anyway. Today I am very happy that I did. I shortened the kayak to 82% by reducing the distance between the stations and decreased the plan to 90%. This resulted in a kayak with 4.3 m (14 feet 1 inch) and 49 cm (19.3 inches) wide at about 16 kg (35 pounds). Usually,…
-
How the Siskiwit LV Happened
Recently I was looking through old photos and came across a few of my old kayak building photos. I’ve pretty much given up building canoes and kayaks for the moment, but I do have a few that I would like to build in the future. It’s interesting looking back from a perspective of 18 years after I built my first kayak. The first kayak that I built was a SOF using Cunningham’s Building the Greenland Kayak book. I really liked the kayak, but it had way too much rocker to be practical at tripping, which is what I wanted it for. In retrospect, I should have just added an external…
-
New Siskiwit SOF Kayak Hits the Water
Tibor Berki from Sweden, the person behind RUGD clothing, completed an unique build of a Siskiwit SOF kayak. He used fiberglass-reinforced foam for the frames, added sealed bulkheads, used an ocean cockpit instead of a whitewater-style cockpit, and he added hatches. His builder’s log is detailed and fun to read. His build ended up at 13kg (28.6 pounds) with all the extras. He is debating on adding a skeg. In his building log, he mentions that he had problems with the dye he used, but I think it looks fantastic! I don’t own a SOF kayak anymore, but now I want one again because his looks so good. Check out…
-
Kayaking Accessories for Beginners
As a first time kayak buyer, you probably didn’t know or don’t know what kayaking accessories to get with your first kayak, and unless you bought from a knowledgeable salesperson, who also kayaks, he probably didn’t get you everything that you needed. The problem is two-fold: 1. Many salespeople don’t understand kayaking. 2. When you first start, the kayaking accessories just don’t seem necessary. A third problem occurs when you run into a salesperson that believes the second point. Although the first problem is easy to fix — just go to a different store — the second is much harder. To fix that second, you can take a sea kayaking…
-
SOF Siskiwit Bay Builder’s Log
Peter Lord writes: I have almost completed the frame of my, shortened to 16’ (x 0.94 in length, frame spacings adjusted) to decrease the displacement slightly to suit my weight of 162 lb (73 kg). It will be for day trips and weekend touring on the Swedish lakes and in the archipelagoes. It is a hybrid of “fuselage frames” and ribs, as I did not want a frame at station #4 getting in the way of my legs, and I wanted to try making ribs. I used all six ply frames of 5mm Baltic birch I already had, 3-ply glassed on both sides with 3oz cloth) to make the frame…
-
Siskiwit SOF Kayak Stolen!
In a recent email from Marcelo, who built a Siskiwit SOF back in 2015, he wrote: My wife stole my Siskiwit! LOL Hence, I needed to build another kayak for me, I choose a skin-on-frame baidarka. I added a system of bulkheads and dry hatches for camping gear and a rudder/skeg for trim in winds. Some pics in the Nahuel Huapi Lake: When I asked if I could share the pictures of his new kayak, he sent along some details of the baidarka build. The construction looks just as good as the construction pictures of his Siskiwit SOF (see Siskiwit SOF Detail Page for a few photos). Here are details: I did…
-
A Siskiwit SOF Hits the Water
Mike from Columbus, MS finished building a Siskiwit SOF kayak, the skin-on-frame version of the Siskiwit Bay. This is what he had to say: I finally got around to building the Siskiwit Bay SOF from plans purchased last year. It took about 6 weeks, 60’ish hours, and perhaps $350 – $400 in materials. Please see the attached pictures (which you may use as you like for PaddlingLight.com). The frames are high quality birch plywood, the stringers of cedar, and the stems from white pine. The entire frame is protected with tung oil/linseed/mineral spirits mix. Covering is iron oxide dyed polyester (red sections only, white is natural color) waterproofed with 2-part polyurethane. The cockpit…
-
Kayak Cockpit Placement Rule of Thumb
If you’re working from a set of sea kayaking plans, figuring out the kayak cockpit placement is easy. You just consult the diagrams. But, if it’s a historic replica or one of your own designs or if the plans didn’t include drawings of the cockpit area, finding the best placement becomes a challenge. This is a hurdle I faced when building my Siskiwit Bay and Siskiwit LV designs. After a day or two a research, I ended up coming up with several rule of thumbs for sea kayak cockpit placements. Any homebuilder could use these and come up with a good cockpit placement. Sea Kayak Cockpit Placement Rule of Thumb…
-
Kayaks For Sale
I have one new and a few used kayaks for sale. The kayaks are in Grand Marais, Minnesota, but if we can coordinate it correctly, I can meet someone in Duluth, Minnesota, because I often get down there. SOLD — 2012 Perception Expression 15 Red w/skeg. Mid-level touring kayak with some features of an expeditions kayak. Turns easily and the skeg keeps it going straight when you want it to go straight. Lots of room for hauling gear. 2011 UK Canoe & Kayak Magazine Best Touring Kayak! Length: 15’0 / 456 cm Width: 24″ / 61 cm Max Capacity: 325 lbs / 148 kg Deck Height: 14.5″ / 37 cm…
-
Belcher Island Kayak Plans
The Belcher Island Kayak was collected in 1958 from Great Whale River where it was built by “Adlaykok” or Allaiquq. It appears as figure 46 in E.Y. Arima’s Inuit Kayaks in Canada: A Review of Historical Records and Construction, Based Mainly on the Canadian Museum of Civilization’s Collection. Arima notes that it was likely built for demonstration, and that its 22-foot length and 29.5-inch beam would make for a good trade kayak between the Belcher Islands and mainland. He also notes that it’s likely as much as a single paddler could handle by himself. The condition of the kayak was rather poor when the lines were taken. The bottom was collapsed and…
-
What Kind of Kayak Cockpit Should I Buy or Build?
I recently found this question in PaddlingLight’s inbox (BTW, I answer all questions that I receive. Sometimes they spark article ideas): I am considering the Siskiwit SOF build. My son & I are about to skin a Sea Tour 17 Explorer, but I haven’t formed the cockpit yet. Can you enlighten me on the different cockpit shapes? I see round, oval and egg shaped with “arm rests”(?) at the narrow end. So, what kind of kayak cockpit should you buy or build? Short Answer: I personally like the egg shaped with the “arm rests” cockpit, which is called a keyhole cockpit. The “arm rests” are knee or thigh braces (depending on…
-
Super Secret Kayak Design
A couple of years ago, I designed this kayak for someone in China. He never got around to building it, or at least he never let me know if he built it. It’s been sitting on my harddrive since then. Recently, I pulled it up and refined it a bit to add extra stability. This kayak falls into the recreational touring class. It’s 15 feet long with a touch of rocker. It should cruise along nicely in the 3 to 4 knot range and feel really solid for beginners despite it’s slightly narrower width than plastic boats in this class. It could be built in cedar strip, plywood or possibly…
-
How to Pack a Sea Kayak Part 2: Packing Your Kayak
Learning how to pack a sea kayak for camping isn’t a mystical black art reserved for expert expeditionary paddles who spend most of their life at sea. Instead, it just takes planning and knowledge of boat trim and balance. In How to Pack a Sea Kayak Part 1: Selecting and Packing Dry Bags, you learned how to pick the right dry bags and pack them properly. The next step is to actually pack the sea kayak. Sea Kayak Compartments and Storage Spaces A sea kayak with bulkheads and watertight cargo compartments that are accessed through hatches make packing much easier than trying to pack a kayak without bulkheads and hatches.…
-
More Kayaking Accessories for Beginners
A first-time kayaker may not realize what kayaking accessories he or she may want or need when getting into kayaking. In the first part of this article, Kayaking Accessories for Beginners, I listed items that I think are necessary for beginners. In this list, I’ll highlight items that an entry-level kayaker may want to buy right now. Eventually, most kayakers end up with some of these items, especially those who want to paddle further than swimming distance from shore and in less than perfect weather. Note: If you paddle in water colder than 60 degree Fahrenheit (15.5 Celsius), then you need a wetsuit or a drysuit. I’ve covered that before in…
Or if you use a RSS Feed Reader subscribe via our RSS Feed.