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Tom (and everybody else on this link):
You've made me realize I have dues to pay. The first kayak I built was a Tursiops, plans bought through Wooden Boat shop.
Paying dues: designer is Mike Alford. Thank you! The T introduced me to the lovely world of building and paddling kayaks. Unfortunately, I built it from inferior HEAVY sheets of lauan ply. The boat is too heavy to be put on a roofrack. So, last winter I built an own-design kayak....based on the Tursiops. I've named it "The Duckling". The only thing I really copied from the Tursiops was the mid-ship angle between bottom and side panels (not counting the "keel panel", which is a flat plank on the original T. I made it into a slight plywood vee.) For the rest of the boat: it's longer, slimmer, has a different deck - and a "fixed-rudder" stern for better tracking, and it's built mostly S&G. But my design has kept the same great stability that the Tursiops has, and that's what I was designing for; a kayak for cold Norwegian winter paddling with no fear of a cold dip. Well, I'm an optimist.
So, the Tursiops was my inspiration, and YES; I stole one major detail. But I still think The Duckling is MY kayak. And anyway, I'm not into this to make money; I have no plans or drawings for another Duckling. I'd have to take all measurements from the existing kayak, and then learn to use a CAD program to make another one. So: I don't think I owe Mike Alford anything but a great THANKS! Your design was my introduction to the world of paddling!
Then to complicating things: After the Tursiops I wanted to build something completely different.... Again, Wooden Boat shop was the source: I ordered plans for the Seguin, designed by Rob Bryan. I started the building in my farmer friend Ole's former chicken shack. After one week, he decided he wanted to build one too..... Of course, I had the plans and we could have co-built two Seguins. But: I wanted to be fair to the designer, so I wrote him a letter (oldfashioned snailmail since I couldn't find an email-address) asking his fee to build a Seguin no2 from the plans I'd bought. After a few weeks my letter was, like Elvis said, "returned to sender". Mr. Bryan was not to be found by the US post system. You Americans seem to be set on moving about without leaving a forwarding address.
So I had to go through Wooden Boat magazine again: I e-mailed them, asking Mr. Bryan's whereabouts. The answer was: You have to pay the full price for another set of plans, but - once you have paid - you may actually use the plans you already have purchased.... So, we saved the price of the shipping a new set of plans. OK, maybe fair enough. BUT: I wonder - did Mr.Bryan get his fair share of the price for plan set no.2, which was actually never shipped because we already had a set of plans? Or did the full price for the right to build a Seguin no2 stay with Wooden Boat magazine? I suppose and hope that Rob Bryan had made an agreement with WB that secured him a fee for any Seguin made, but I don't KNOW!
So, next due to pay: Mr. Bryan, your Seguin is a great kayak, it's a water racehorse that produces envy in the hearts of strip builders and all other kayak paddlers who see it.
In rough weather, it has given me the adrenalin kick I never thought I would experience, since I never sought it. I've never been the one to go for mountain climbing or parachute diving - or any other potentially life-endagering sport. But in your Seguin I've mastered waves and winds that kayaking friends found too much. And I thank you for it.
BUT: If I should happen to really crash my Seguin on rocks or otherwise, I wouldn't hesitate to build me a new one, without paying. I think I have paid the price to have a selfbuilt Seguin ready to go paddling.
A Happy New Year to all of you on this board!
Øivind Børresen
This is an archived message from The Kayak Building Bulletin Board.
Guillemot Kayak - High
Performance Wooden Sea Kayak Designs
