Building

Plans Now Available

In July I finished up the prototype of a new canoe design. The Nymph is a 10' long by 28" wide solo double-paddle canoe. It is designed for paddlers under 150 lbs and the prototype weighs about 15 pounds. I am experimenting with building boats with domestic hardwoods to find alternatives for old-growth cedar. In this boat I used walnut and basswood cut into 1/8th inch thick strips. I then reinforced it with a carbon-Kevlar hybrid cloth on the inside and high-strength "S-Glass" on the outside. The gunwales are basswood under a layer of 4 ounce E-Glass and the stems are cherry.

I was talking to John Harris at Chesapeake Light Craft last fall. As the conversation wandered around various boats and projects we were working on, it became apparent that we each had some issues that we might be able help each other with. I had some designs that I had not had the time to develop usable plans and instructions for, and he had a demand for some boats that he didn't have time to develop designs for. People had been hounding him for a Sit-on-Top (SOT) kayak kit, and people had been hounding me to release my stitch and glue SOT design. I also had a surf kayak design that I thought was pretty cool but had not had the time to prepare usable instructions for.

My S&G Night Heron Class at the WoodenBoat School in September still has spaces available. This is a fun class in a great location. Everyone seems to enjoy it and you go home with your own nearly-completed kayak.

If you strap a wooden boat to your roof and drive to a put in for a paddle, you will need to learn to deal with the inevitable delays that occur when people gather around your car to ask about your boat. "Where did you get it?", "How much did it cost?", "You didn't build that.", and on and on. This is the Parking Lot Syndrome or PLS. It is the burden you will take on when you have a wooden boat on your car.

You will need to plan on leaving a little earlier for the launch so you have time to deal with the admiration. If you pull in on a beach for lunch, be prepared to be interrupted while eating your sandwich. When you paddle with unfamiliar paddlers, don't be surprised if one of them moves in beside you as you paddle to ask a few questions.

I've decided to make the plans for my Stitch & Glue Guillemot available to internet users as "share ware". If you end up building this boat please send me a photograph of the results.

If you don't want to deal with lofting from the offsets, I have full sized drawings available.

You can read my experiences making this kayak in the journal I tried to keep as I built it. For now the journal will have to

This page started out as a collection of information about building boats. It has since evolved to have an emphasis on building wooden kayaks. If you are interested in how to build a kayak, this is the place to bookmark. There is information here about all different methods of making sea kayaks including: strip-built (or wood strip, cedar strip, etc.); stitch-and-glue (or tack-and-tape); traditional (or skin-on-frame, wood and canvas); and some others. I hope you find what you need. I'm always looking for more information to add. If you are building a boat, keep a journal. It may find a home h