Fuselage Frame Boats: A guide to building skin kayaks and canoes documents S. Jeff Horton’s, Kudzu Craft, method of building plywood-framed skin-on-frame kayaks in a similar method to those developed by Tom Yost of Yostwerks. The idea is to connect a series of frames with stringers to make the basic shape of the kayak or [...]
The Southern Alaskan Baidarka appears as figure 179 in Edwin Tapppan Adney and Howard I. Chapelle’s The Bark Canoes and Skin Boat of North America. This is the only tandem kayak in the book, and the only known style of kayak that was built with more than one seating position — sometimes baidarkas had three. [...]
I finished this kayak on Thanksgiving, a harvest festival celebrated in the United States. Tradition says that the original celebration occurred in the early 1600s and celebrated the European settlers surviving their first year with the help of the natives. It’s a grand story that didn’t turn out that great for the natives. Here I [...]
Safety Note: A vinyl skin is not safe for normal use. This is for show only. Hundreds of years ago, the Aleuts paddled slender kayaks up and down the west coast of North America in search of sealskins and adventure. Their kayaks, called baidarkas by the Russians, were typically narrow, fast, and featured crazy looking [...]
Note: The plans included on this page are for historical reference only. Carlson’s Hulls, a windows only program, is required to view them. These are the boats that I’ve built or designed for myself. I’ve helped on other boats, but I am not including them. Please, feel free to contact me to learn more about [...]
Concise reviews of 19, count them, 19 boat building books. This list will get you started building boats of your own. It’s easy just check out my building log for my latest kayak.
A review of Bob Boucher’s video Build Your Own Sea Kayak.
Build Your Own Greenland-style Skin-on-Frame Kayak Course
This winter, you should visit Grand Marais, Minnesota, one of the best paddling towns in the U.S., and learn how to build a skin-on-frame sea kayak. In late March, North House Folk School is offering a 12-day course on how to build your own skin-on-frame kayak. At the end of the course, you’ll have a [...]