Building

Nick has a slideshow that provides an overview of the various methods of building wooden kayak. Topics covered include Skin-on-frame, Stitch-and-Glue, and Strip Built methods plus a discussion of repairing the boats if damaged, various outfitting techniques and making a wooden paddle.

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.

Most wooden boats will actually weigh less than commercially manufactured boats. Because wood is structurally efficient, a boat built with it can be made quite light. The only real downside of wood is that since it is a natural material it is not necessarily consistent in its weight.

Most of the cost of building a kayak is labor, but doing the work is part of the fun so we won't count that here.

Guillemot Kayaks specializes in small wooden boats that are light enough to transport on the roof of your car.