My Kayak-Build Thread

[911 Rod]

How is the paddle coming?

[Skip Newsom]

Beautiful work Charlie!
Interested in hearing how she handles!
I'm very very pleased with mine, tracks very well in wind or waves, fast and pretty comfortable for a 2 hour paddle.

Getting in and out does require upper and lower body strength, yet another great reason to keep working out and lifting!

I only refinished my Pygmy, but I've been accused of taking a piece of mahogany furniture out for a drive.








Wooden boats just look and feel right!

[ckissick]

Nice boat, Skip.

As for the paddle, it's done. I'll take a pic of it later.

[brainz01]

Nice job. Beautiful pictures.

[ckissick]

The deck lines are in. And the Greenland paddle is done.

[ckissick]

Launch Day! Beautiful, warm, calm day on the water. But first we gotta get there.


Almost in the water. My daughter, Ani, is getting pretty excited.


And...It floats!


Now I'm trying it out. It's a little tippy, but you get used to it quickly and then it handles great.


It went very well. Time for a beer!


All in all, it handles great, is fast, and a lot of fun. Everyone one at the yacht club was full of questions and compliments. I'll be building another one for me, starting very soon. I wish we could have used the Greenland paddle, but the tung oil was not quite cured enough to go in the water.

[herr_oberst]

Wow! That is so cool. Love the translucence with the sun behind the boat.

(The boat really "scales down" when you get her outdoors!)

No spray skirt?

[Sooner or later]

Really nice!

[ramonesfreak]

Originally Posted by ckissick

No flag needed. I'll mostly be taking it out to the harbor in Half Moon Bay, Tomales Bay, Lake Tahoe, the Truckee River, places like that.

Awesome project.

Half moon bay? What about sharks and just a thin layer of fabric between you and the sharks? I wouldnt have the balls

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Wow! That is so cool. Love the translucence with the sun behind the boat.

(The boat really "scales down" when you get her outdoors!)

No spray skirt?

Don't really need a spray skirt for a short paddle in calm waters.

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by ramonesfreak

What about sharks and just a thin layer of fabric between you and the sharks? I wouldnt have the balls

Good one.

[ramonesfreak]

Ha. Didn’t mean to joke. I watch a lot of ocean kayak fishing videos and the close encounters with sharks are common and terrifying to me. I couldn’t relax out there

[Skip Newsom]

Congratulations!!
The translucence is very cool, happy to hear you had a successful maiden voyage!

Thus far I've stuck to fresh water lakes, there are countless places to launch and explore saltwater within an hour of me, my wife and I were at Bowman bay and then Deception Pass state park yesterday- nice flat calm water... very cold out but I found myself thinking I should have brought the Kayak!

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by ckissick

Don't really need a spray skirt for a short paddle in calm waters.

Short paddle, calm waters? Roll, baby, roll!

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by Skip Newsom

Congratulations!!
The translucence is very cool, happy to hear you had a successful maiden voyage!

Thus far I've stuck to fresh water lakes, there are countless places to launch and explore saltwater within an hour of me, my wife and I were at Bowman bay and then Deception Pass state park yesterday- nice flat calm water... very cold out but I found myself thinking I should have brought the Kayak!

Since I live on the coast, it will mostly be salt water for us: Local trips, SF Bay, Monterey Bay, and Tomales Bay. But we also plan on going to Tahoe and other lakes in the Sierra.