Portland Build a Traditional Kayak Teen & Tween

Boat Building and Woodworking

Two days a week, for six weeks design your kayak for your body and personality, just as the Aleuts did. The type of boat we build is traditional skin on frame. The frame is made from local cedar, lashed and pegged together, while the "skin" is highly durable balistic grade nylon (like kevlar). At the end of the six week session, students leave with their own kayak. They also gain a thorough understanding of woodworking and woodshop safety along with traditional knotwork to peg and lash the frame together. We offer options for home school youth and also for students on the weekends. Plus, November begins an opportunity to for a parent and their child to build a boat together.

Home School 6 weeks, every Monday and Tuesday starting September 21
Weekends 6 weeks, every Saturday and Sunday starting October 3
Parent and Child Co-kayak building 5 weeks, every Saturday and Sunday, starting November 14. A two or one seat boat can be built in this course. Younger children and other family members are welcome to attend daily provided there is a minimum "team" of two individuals Ages 10-Adult working on one boat.

Apprentice with a Master

Design and build your own Skin-on-frame sea kayak. Become versed in the essentials of boat design, wood bending, knot work and joinery. Our simple method of construction relies on hand tools, and is accessible to all people. We keep our classes small and select. Masters personally instruct apprentices.

The Boat

Skin-on-frame boats have evolved and been put to the test over thousands of years of heavy use on some of the most dangerous seas in the world. There are many styles and designs of vessels. In this class we create a Baidarka, a millennia old design from the natives of the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea. It is possibly the most sea worthy human powered boat in history. This design evolved from a need to hunt distant game in the middle of one of the most challenging seas in the world. A specialized bow and stern help make this boat able to move beyond its own theoretical top speed.

We go over the basics of boat design and evolution. The first step of construction is building the bow and stern. Laying out the shape of the hull, the Gunwales are fit to our desired beam. The deck is completed, the keel installed and the stringers give the exact hull shape. Oak ribs are steamed and bent to the shape of the stringers and fitted into notches in the gunwales. Every joint is lashed with knotwork as old as the hills. Next comes fitting and sewing the skin with the final waterproof urethane coating. When your done, take your finished kayak home.