BUILD YOUR OWN GREENLAND SKIN-ON-FRAME KAYAK
A wonderfully simple and affordable boatbuilding project.
- Mark Kaufman —July 11–17
Few kayaks can match the skin-on-frame type for simplicity, elegance, and performance. These kayaks are custom-fitted to the individual, bringing you closer to the water and the paddling experience.
During this rewarding six-day course, students will have the opportunity to build a replica of a traditional Greenland-style skin-on-frame kayak based on museum surveys. Participants will have a choice of building a reproduction of the FRAM Museum #176 kayak from 1888 which measures 17′10″ in length by 20 ½″ in width, or a replica of the Canadian Museum of Civilization IV-A-375 Disko Bay kayak from 1931 which is 16′4″ long and 20″ wide. Minor sizing adjustments will allow the builder to custom-fit the kayak. Traditional construction techniques will be blended with modern materials to create a kayak that is fast and light. The finished kayaks, constructed from Western red cedar with steam-bent white ash ribs and a stitched-on synthetic skin, will weigh between 25 and 28 lbs.
Instructor Mark Kaufman will create a materials/kit package that includes pre-machined Western red cedar gunwales, stringers, deckbeams, stems, white ash rib stock, laminated white ash masik deckbeams, finished cockpit rim, seat slats, deck lines, synthetic skin, urethane coating, and a partially pre-shaped Western red cedar paddle blank.
Skills Mark will teach include procedures for accurately replicating the original profile of the kayak from line drawings, layout procedures, mortise-and-tenon construction, steam-bending, hull shaping, sewing on a skin, and, time permitting, carving a Greenland-style paddle.
Mark promises a fun, fast-paced, intensive week as each kayak takes shape. Students can expect some long, very productive days so that each day’s goals can be met, and by the end of the week each participant will have a stunning kayak that is ready for the water.
Tuition: $750 (partner: $375)
Materials: 16′4″ kayak–$850, 17′10″ kayak–$900
Note: This is a six-day course ending Saturday afternoon.