A Siskiwit SOF Hits the Water
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Mike from Columbus, MS finished building a Siskiwit SOF kayak, the skin-on-frame version of the Siskiwit Bay. This is what he had to say:
I finally got around to building the Siskiwit Bay SOF from plans purchased last year. It took about 6 weeks, 60’ish hours, and perhaps $350 – $400 in materials. Please see the attached pictures (which you may use as you like for PaddlingLight.com).
The frames are high quality birch plywood, the stringers of cedar, and the stems from white pine. The entire frame is protected with tung oil/linseed/mineral spirits mix. Covering is iron oxide dyed polyester (red sections only, white is natural color) waterproofed with 2-part polyurethane. The cockpit coming is laminated white pine with laminated lip made from Purpleheart I had stashed in the shop. All up weight with seat and pads installed is 37 pounds.
It gets compliments nearly every time it is on the water…and I agree! It’s gorgeous sweeping lines is what sold me to build this one over other designs. :)
After 75 miles in it so far, I love this kayak. It is quick, quiet, and responsive. The only nitpick is it tends to wander at times under power … but that might be just seat and weight placement. Though I am sorely temped to add a kayak rudder to it. Heh.
Anyway, thanks for designing this beautiful and great paddling kayak. I already have the strip build version plans in hand and planning on building it within the next year. In the meantime, the SOF will get plenty of miles under it!
Mike
Columbus, MS
Bryan Hansel
Bryan Hansel is a freelance writer, award-winning photographer and a former American Canoe Association L4 Open Water Coastal Kayaking Instructor. His home port is on Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minnesota. He also teaches photography workshops.
3 Comments
Michael Mangus
Heya Bryan,
Last week I noticed what I call “seat creep”, i.e over time my semi-portable seat was creeping forward in the kayak. My fault. Somehow the foot pegs got inadvertently readjusted towards the bow and instead of fixing them I just scooted the seat and back band forward. Heh. All fixed now.
So why I bring this up? Remember I originally mentioned the kayak liked to wander while coasting and under paddle. Welp, moving the seat as far back in the cockpit as possible has practically eliminated the wandering. What little is left is easily controlled with a sweep stroke tossed in while paddling normally. :)
Thanks again for designing a wonderful SOF. None of the production kayaks I have paddled to date is as nice as the Siskiwit SOF. It is by far my favorite kayak. :)
Bryan Hansel
Sweet. I’m glad that worked out for you. You must have ended up aligning your center of balance with the kayak’s center of buoyancy.
alex
Poly. I’d love to find some poly.