Learn To Build A Traditional Kayak

A Greenland kayak is not built per a set of plans but by a building method that strives to fit the kayak to your body dimensions. The information by (Greenlander) H.C. Petersen is closest to the methods used in Greenland. Many of the other sources provide alternative or "modernized" building solutions which are quite satisfactory in their own right.

www.qajaqusa.org...

Fascinating destruction test here. vimeo.com...

More on measurements here.

. . . each kayak was built with its future kayaker in mind. Using their individual body as a guide, distances such as finger length, arm length, fingertip to elbow distance, hand width, and leg size were the measurement tools used to create individualized crafts perfectly suited to their paddlers (Petersen, 1986).

ashliegoinggreenland.wordpress.com...

This type of kayak construction was first carried out with stone tools. Long distance travel was possible as demonstrated by the stray kayakers sometimes found far off course.

The man who washed up near Aberdeen in 1728 was in fact an Inuit, a native of Greenland who had travelled more than 1,000 miles from his home. His kayak is still in the collection of the University of Aberdeen's Marischal Museum. There's no record of whether the crew of the fishing boat believed him to be a ghost or a devil or a visitor from another planet, but they loaded him onto a wooden cart and brought him to a nearby house where, in spite of the best efforts of the local people, he died three days later.

Norman Rogers, 62, a retired civil engineer and keen endurance kayaker, had long been intrigued by the mystery of the Aberdeen kayak man, and when an unexpected illness forced him to spend a long spell out of the water a few years ago, he used the opportunity to find out more. The resulting book, Searching for the Finmen, has just been released by Matador. It's a fascinating read, and it comes to some startling conclusions about how not just one but many Inuit may have crossed the Atlantic in their fragile sealskin boats in the 17th and 18th centuries.

www.rogersadventures.co.uk...


A mermaid is said to be the top half of a human with the bottom half of a fish. Most fish swim horizontally. The bottom half of a horizontal fish is kayak shaped. Mermaids, Finmen and Seal People were the seagoing kayakers, travelling far and knowing the ways of the sea.

One word of warning. It has been known for people to build a boat indoors then find they can't get it out through the door or window.

a reply to: Kester

Neat project and would be a lot of fun. I am still trying to get the motivation to make a bow from scratch, so this is beyond me right now.

Good post.
I keep thinking about building a canoe or some such.
No one ever leaves me a line for long enough though.

I saw some good boat and canoe designs that use marine ply though and look like a weekend's work, even if you're a bit of a duffer likee where wood is concerned.

I've been wanting to build a birch bark canoe. It's interesting about how the kayak is customized to the user. Native American moccosins were made to the individual foot shape and size.

a reply to: SprocketUK

I've got the plans for this one. www.selway-fisher.com... One day soon I'll make it. The lighter the better if you're carrying it to the water. One time I staggered across a field carrying a canoe that was a bit too heavy while a bull stopped grazing and eyed me suspiciously. That would be a good one to add into an obstacle course. It sure boosts the stress.

I advise against the simpler flat bottomed designs, one breath of wind and you're blown sideways.

I'm about to undertake the building of a foam Kayak.. We'll see how it goes.

If the first one goes well I am going to build a 14ft Tandem..

I got most of my ideas from an Instructable called "Sawfish"

I'll post how it turns out at some point.

-Mus

a reply to: Kester

Pretty cool video, thank you for that. It's true that one can watch people working for a very long time

I'm mostly replying to this to watch later. I always love learning how things were made back in the day before modern tools.