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Siskiwit Bay Skin-on-Frame Sea Kayak Plans
The Siskiwit Bay SOF is a multi-chined version of the original Siskiwit Bay cedar strip boat. It’s a great modern British-style sea kayak that a builder can scale down to suit their size. These free kayak plans are for builders desiring a skin-on-frame version of the boat built in Yost-style. For stitch and glue plywood builders, the Siskiwit Bay MC is also available. The plans come as full-sized drawings that you can print. Note: The sheerline and design features sweeping curves that might challenge first-time Yost-style builders. If you haven’t built a Yost-style SOF before, this might not be the best option. The basic process of a wooden framed Yost-style…
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How to Adjust a Sea Kayak
Adjusting a sea kayak or touring boat to fit not only makes the boat more comfortable but also makes it easier to control. With the proper fit, edging, which helps you maneuver, feels easier, rolling becomes easier, and torso rotation, which propels a kayak forward, becomes unimpeded. For all-day touring, I feel that you need a snug fit that’s loose in all the right areas. That might sound like a slight contradiction, but let me explain. How to Size a Kayak There are a lot of factors in picking the right size kayak, such as what you’re going to do with it, what you weigh, how much gear you’re going…
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Sea Kayak Cockpit Plans
Only a few of the kayak plans on PaddlingLight include specific cockpit designs, which leaves it open to you to decide which cockpit to use. I like a cockpit that runs around 32 inches by 17 inches. The plans for this cockpit run just slightly over 32 and just under 17. I find this length and width makes it easier for people over 5’10” to get in the kayak vs. 30-inch versions. The Iggy plans include a smaller cockpit The plans come as a pdf that you can print off at a office supply store, such as Officemax or Staples, or any printing store that can print up to 36…
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How to Carry a Spare Kayak Paddle
Most kayakers know that they should carry a spare paddle, because getting a broken paddle on a kayak trip — even on a day trip — is a pain. I know, because I’ve done it, and I didn’t have a spare. I limped back about a mile to the place I launched using my snapped Greenland paddle canoe style. Although, it got me back, it took extra time, and if I wasn’t an avid solo canoeist who knows the “C” stroke, the paddle would have caused misery. Since that day, I’ve always carried a spare paddle, and you should, too. On the Kayak’s Front or Rear Deck It’s best to…
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Free Plans: 1921 Southwest Greenland Kayak
In 1921, Norman L. Skene took the lines off of the Peabody Museum’s Southwest Greenland kayak. Those lines, drawn by Howard I. Chapelle, appear as figure 207 in The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. The kayak is similar in length and width to the 1883 Southwestern Greenland kayak with a few differences. The 1921 kayak shows little rocker, whereas, according to Chapelle, the 1883 kayak shows about the most amount used in a southwestern style. The 1921 boat shows both less deadrise and less flare than the 1883 boat. Also, the sheer line is less sweeping than the 1883 kayak. Chapelle notes that both the 1883 and…
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Free Kayak Plans: 1883 Southwestern Greenland Kayak
The original survey for the 1883 Southwestern Greenland kayak appears in The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America (Figure 206). Howard I. Chapelle, the surveyor, writes that this kayak represent one of the last southwestern Greenland boats of the old style, a style characterized by a strong sweeping sheer at the bow and stern. This kayak shows what Chapelle believed was close to the maximum amount of rocker used in a southwestern-style kayak. The original survey shows bone plates pegged to the bow and stern to protect the kayak from landing and launch on ice. Chapelle writes that the old form was a fast and handy hunting boat.…
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Paddling Weather Lore and Prediction
Paddlers live at the mercy of the weather. On a calm day, we can paddle miles. On a stormy day, a strong headwind makes progress a crawl, and nothing is worse than lightning striking during a long crossing. Having simple tools to help predict the weather during a paddling trip helps with the decision making process. It can help answer the question, “To go or not to go?” In the backcountry, one type of weather prediction available is weather lore, which is a collection of folk sayings that help predict the weather. These sayings can be helpful for paddlers wishing to predict the weather. Here are a few favorite weather…
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Winter Kayaking
“There is no bad weather, only the wrong gear.” -Minnesota Proverb Winter shorelines feature ice formations, ice caves, and the air is crystal clear which allows you to see for miles. On a blue-sky winter day, I feel there’s no other place I’d rather be than on the water paddling. With the proper gear and precautions, winter needn’t be a reason to stay off the water. Luckily, for me I live on the north shore of Lake Superior, and its shores remain ice-free for most of the winter. Some winters, we have only a few weeks of ice, and during some, we have months of ice. If you have open…
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Throw Bags for Sea Kayaking
Most sea kayakers who’ve passed a safety and rescue class are aware of the importance of carrying a tow rope. A similar safety device that could be of equal importance and prove more handy in some rescue situations is a whitewater throw bag. These bags are inexpensive and lightweight, so there is no excuse not to carry one in some situations. Throw Bags Basics A whitewater throw bag is a rescue tool typically with 50 to 70 feet or floating rope loosely packed into a bag that pays out easily when thrown to a swimmer. It often has a rope handle on one end that allows it to be easily…
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Make your NDK/SKUK Romany or Explorer Seat Comfy
A common complaint about NDK/SKUK Romany and Explorers is an uncomfortable seat. If like me, you find the seat itself comfortable, but have problems with the backband pinching your arse between the seat and the band, try this easy fix before removing the glass seat. For this project, you need: You also need a comfy backband to replace the poor excuse of a backband supplied with the kayak. I heartily recommend this one: For this project, you’re going to lower the back of the seat using sandpaper and a rasp, install a new backband, and make everything look pretty. Steps: Notes: You could also try to wrap some thin minicell…
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Siskiwit Bay Multi-Chined Kayak Plans for Plywood Building
Description: The Siskiwit Bay MC is all-around fast mid-sized British-style touring kayak designed for plywood building. This kayak suits a medium to heavy paddler looking for good initial stability and with increased flare above the waterline lots of secondary stability. As the water gets rougher, this kayak feels more stable. It’s a fast design slightly more efficient than most British kayaks in its class. Designed by Bryan Hansel. Experimental: Since the Siskiwit Bay plans became available on the Internet, I’ve received requests for a plywood version of the kayak. The SB was originally designed as a multi-chined boat for plywood building using the excellent HULLS software. I’ve taken the original…
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The Simplest of Seats
Considering how restricted the seating actually is in the average cruising kayak, it’d better be comfortable. Hours of being jammed in an uncomfortable cockpit is no one’s idea of fun – cramped muscles, hard-spot aches, and that pins-and-needles feeling in the legs just purely takes the fun out of a day on the water. For better or for worse, commercial kayaks come with one sort of seat or another, but those of us who build our own have to come up with some alternative that’s comfortable. If you’re up for it, you can certainly carve yourself a fine mini-cell seat, and there’s lots of nice carved mini-cell and/or gel seats…
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Building Ken Taylor 1959 Kayak – the Igdlorssuit
In the Fall of 2007, I set out to build a new kayak to serve several goals: Build a kayak that fits Ilena, my significant other, better than my Romany. Build a kayak that would be a Greenland style hard chined boat that is as easy or easier to roll than my Romany. Try several ideas for a kayak build that I haven’t tried yet. Glass hatch recesses. Glass fitting recesses. Dyeing the wood. And a few other. Generally to improve my building and glassing abilities during a quick build. Reproduce a historic kayak in cedar strip construction. Build another day boat with a different feel than my Romany and…
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Building the Ken Taylor Igdlorssuit Kayak
Gathering Supplies (2:30 Hours) The biggest show stopper for most new kayak and canoe builders is the gathering supply step. Having to decide exactly what materials to buy, where to find the best deal, and how to get everything together in the same location at the right time is complicated. For this kayak, I’m using left over glass from RAKA. I’m using 6 ounce E-glass on the outside and 5 ounce tight-weave E-glass on the inside. The open weave 6 ounce will wet-out more clearly than the tight weave. The epoxy is from US Composites. The dye is from Solar-Lux via Woodcraft.com. It is Blood Red. I’m using KajakSport hatches,…
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Building Ken Taylor 1959 Kayak – the Igdlorssuit – Part Three
Fair Inside (4 Hours) After the kayak is lifted off the forms, it’s time to fair the inside. This kayak is mainly flat on the inside, so fair is easily accomplished using a block plane, hobbyist plane, and a flat surform tool. A Convex surform can be used on the concave sections of the hull. The key point to watch for while using these tools, is use them only to take of the high edges of the strips. After the edges are taken off, change over to sand paper. A rough grit like 40 or 60 will quickly smooth the surface. This can be finished off up to 80 grit…
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