John's Kayak Pages

Kayaking became the preferred mode of exercise for me several years ago. We first purchased a recreational kayak (Swifty) while living on a residential lake, and then improved our skills through classes and numerous club trips with a club in Tempe, Arizona. My initial attraction to kayaks was as a vehicle to access remote camping areas - thus touring boats were of primary interest. The Swifty quickly became "BJ's boat."

Some lessons and exposure to whitewater boats in a wave pool led to the realization that there was a life beyond flat water. In an attempt to satisfy the broadening interests, my first boat purchase was a used Prijon Tornado. With the expedition whitewater design, it could easily handle the Class I, II, & III whitewater I enjoyed while having enough volume to handle week long self-supported trips. It was a good lesson in paddle technique since it was inherently unable to go straight without help! Because of the compromises in the selection of the boat, it was inefficient to paddle for flat water touring, and too big for the wave pool or play holes on the local river.

A spur of the moment decision resulted in the purchase of a Northwest Kayaks Sportee RM as a touring boat for BJ. She especially likes the low deck. A pedestrian craft, it meets her needs well, but spends much of its life hanging on the kayak rack in the garage. I didn't want to settle for a plastic touring boat, since I'd already run across the Kayak Building Bulletin Board hosted by Nick Schade of Guillemot Kayaks. Instead, I began researching the possibilities of building my own touring boat from wood and epoxy.

In the summer of 2001, BJ was selected as the winner of a boat from the American Canoe Association who held a drawing for all those people who voted for Directors of the organization. The prize was supposed to be a Swifty (not another…) but ACA was willing to work with us and their sponsoring vendors. We traded up to a Dagger Outlaw which became my favorite for the local rivers, San Diego surf, the wave pool, and kayak polo nights.

Since the summer of 2001, I've been building kayaks - a hobby that I enjoy every bit as much as kayaking itself. These pages are intended to be a source of information, inspiration, and encouragement to others who are considering building a wood kayak.

There are three basic types of wood kayak construction. Choosing which construction method to use is one of the first steps in selecting which design to build. I assembled a document for our local paddling club describing these methods and noting various resources, both web and books.