Kayak trip, anyone else do this?

[quickervicar]

Not sure what I'm going to use. I like the toughness of the Primo but prefer the tautness of the Standard cloth. Finishing is another matter entirely. There's a new, sprayable, tintable marine epoxy available from Germany now. I just don't know if I can trust Germans to build something reliable...:hitler:

[e28forlife]

I've wanted to do some nice quiet river/lake paddling for quite some time now.

My father has always had kayaks, and as soon as I could swim I was in one. However, he is much more interested in surf kayaking, which I enjoy, but with big waves it still scares me (try paddling up a 8 ft wave and being flipped right over backwards, unlike surfers, we can't go under at that point).

I used to go up to Canada during the summer and paddle for hours.
I was actually planning a two or three day trip, where I would paddle during the day and camp out at night, likely having someone drop me off then pick me up down river.
We own around 20 kayaks, but most are surf skis and sit-on-tops. I have two really nice whitewater boats, one newer, but nothing like a touring/camping type boat. I considered bringing two boats and tying them together so I could put gear in the second boat, but there would be some safety concerns with that.

[e28forlife]

Im thinking of building a kayak from a kit.

www.clcboats.com

Go for it, I built one last year or so. For a first-timer, I would go with a stitch and glue build. I already had a good deal of fiberglass/epoxy experience from building 'custom' boats but it was a great learning experience. The larger boats look like you need a bit more experience to build/. When I finished my boat I wanted to hang it on the wall like art work.

I really like the small sailboat they have, but I'm not sure if it would ever be used.

[twothrees]

Not sure what I'm going to use. I like the toughness of the Primo but prefer the tautness of the Standard cloth. Finishing is another matter entirely. There's a new, sprayable, tintable marine epoxy available from Germany now. I just don't know if I can trust Germans to build something reliable...:hitler:

Do you have a link to this stuff?

Thanks

[quickervicar]

Here you go: http://www.skinboats.org/skinboats/home.html

e28forlife, I cannot recommend Algonquin enough. You can put-in at a dock with parking, paddle for a day, find a campsite, repeat for however many days you feel, then return to the same dock that you started at. Very convenient, yet very remote.

[John Rocker]

I did mine for about 1/2 the weight and 1/2 the price. Besides, there's nothing quite like a skin-on-frame kayak.

do you have a source for the plans/kits that you use?

[quickervicar]

No kits available, to my knowledge. I took a course locally, but everything was done off of scale drawings from the Fram museum in Oslo. These are built to fit the paddler, so there aren't really any set dimensions.

As far as materials go, I used Western Red Cedar for the gunwales, bow planks, chines & deck beams. White ash for the ribs & cockpit surround. Cherry for the sit-boards and masik. All the lashing was done with waxed sinew.

[quickervicar]

At the risk of going a bit OT

[quickervicar]

Back on topic! Some shots from our latest excursion into Algonquin: