Guillemot Kayaks

I recently did a Google search on "WoodenBoat School" I noticed that my Build Your Own Night Heron course at the school came up as the second link after the actual WoodenBoat School site. Reading down the list I found a link to Matt Murphy's blog entry about the WoodenBoat School. When I went to his blog, I read his post about "The Third Most Curious Thing" where he note that one of his posts now is listed 3rd on a Google search for "curiosities of the world". Now if you do a search that particular post about the curiosity of becoming the 3rd most curious thing in the world is the 4th most curious thing when you do that search. Are you following this?

An a 18" model of the Night Heron carved from Mahogany and Ash with a Maple cockpit, mounted on a piece of Manzanita root.

If you are looking for a gift for your family kayak builder or paddling enthusiast, I have a couple ideas that might work. A wooden kayak model is a unique item to display on a mantel or book shelf.

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'm heading up to Maine for a bit of paddling and to exhibit at the Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors Show in Rockland. I'll be gone from July 28 through August 14. I'll be paddling with friends and thinking up new ideas for boats. If you are in the Rockland Maine area August 11, 12, or 13, please stop in at the show to say hi.

If have any questions I will be out of touch for awhile, so I hope they can wait. Orders will continue to be sent out while I'm gone.

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.

Steve Grant is a writer for the Hartford Courant who tends to write articles about the outdoors and environmental issues. A couple weeks ago he gave me a call to see if I would be a willing subject of an article. Seemed like a good idea to me. I'm not about to pass up free publicity.

The article came out on Sunday.