Building a Chuckanut 12 skin-on-frame kayak

Last spring, in preparing for my summer boat-building day camp at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, I built a small paddling boat to test my ideas and get a feel for how it might work with kids.  The result was very heavy and clunky, and taught me how NOT to build a simple hull.  This year I was invited to give the program again but with middle-school youth, so I decided a more sophisticated boat was in order.

One of the boats built in the St. Andrew's Summer program.

I've become interested in the modern versions of skin-on-frame boats that were originally developed by the peoples of the far north, such as those known variously as Eskimos, Innuit, Aleut and Yupik.  Their seal-skin-covered boats, evolved in an environment where wood was incredibly scarce, ended up with hulls that were seaworthy yet very light--superior in many ways to those of the Europeans who first encountered them a couple of centuries ago.  The modern versions of these kayaks take full advantage of the properties of plywood for shaping the hull, and the durability and ease of use of nylon or polyester cloth for covering.  They have developed a reputation for lightness, durability, and--perhaps most importantly-- relatively fast and inexpensive construction. 

I have already built a two-man kayak that is quite good-looking and functional, yet--even though it is made mostly of expensive and light-weight 3/16-inch plywood--is still a bit heavy to for loading single-handed on the minivan roof rack.

 Serendipity, my B&B Yachts-designed Birder2, at her christening.

A skin-on-frame kayak involves (I thought) less use of dangerous edge tools and has jobs such as cutting out frames and tying lashings, that could occupy a fair-sized group of kids simultaneously--important values for my program.  Of course, I would have to build one first so I could program and organize the build into the time available and teach kids the necessary skills; and that--wouldn't you know--would give me a kayak of my own!  Several "professional amateur" designers offer skin-on-frame designs.  After settling on Dave Gentry's Chuckanut kayak, I wrote to him about the St. Andrew's summer camp program--he promptly donated a set of plans, even paying the postage!  (I bought the plans for the one-man kayak I am building for myself; Dave then donated the plans for a two-man kayak the kids will build.)

Progress so far--

I have been working rather slowly and fitfully, having cut out the frames with a jigsaw and ripped the long stringers on a table saw months ago.  I only just finished tying the lashings that make frames and stringers into a stiff and stable whole.  I still have to install the carlins that will define the cockpit edge, and a deck beam that will provide a stable place to attach things.  Once these are done I can "skin" the boat with heat-shrink polyester, shrink it taut with a hot iron, and paint the fabric to make it waterproof.  All that must happen in the next few weeks to be ready for the program, which begins in July.  On the other hand, I may put off skinning the boat until the program is well under way in mid-July--that way the kids can see the critical steps and goals before they have to perform them.

The end frames and keel begin attached to a "strong-back" of 2X4 pine to keep everything aligned in the beginning.

Figure-eight and over-hand knots secure the end of the "artificial sinew" used to tie stringers into notches in the frames.

A series of wraps around the frame and stringers, tightened by wraps around the wraps, make a strong but slightly flexible joint.

This open-ended frame makes for a generously-sized cockpit.

Stems are secured to the gunwales, keel, and other stringers by a combination of screws, epoxy, and lashings.

The frame, made of seven douglas fir stringers lashed to five plywood frames, is complete except for cockpit edges and a deck beam.