On this page:
- Canoe and Kayak building book
- Wasp Canoe
- Kayoo, decked canoe/kayak
- More paddle making information
CANOE AND KAYAK BUILDING THE LIGHT AND EASY WAY, International Marine, McGraw-Hill Publishers, is available through many bookstores and online book sellers: Sam Rizzetta at Barnes and Noble.
I am always happy to hear from those of you who have used the book for your creative projects. Please compress any photos that you send as email.
I occasionally design and build very light weight Kevlar and carbon fiber canoes and kayaks. And I’ve developed convenient methods for do-it-yourself, at home construction. The book describes those methods. If you have tools and a space to work, you can make a safe, ultra light canoe. Many of the photos in the book show building Wasp and Kayoo, the decked canoes pictured below. The book also contains valuable flotation and safety information.
The personal responses I’ve gotten to the book have all been very positive. However, some online reviewers misunderstood what the book is about. To clarify, this book provides a method for do-it-yourself building of Kevlar and carbon canoes and kayaks. It is NOT about mass production, or wooden boats, or boats other than canoes and kayaks, or skin-on-frame boat construction. A special fabric-on-frame form is used, but that is not part of the finished boat. As listed on the front cover, there are plans for two (solo) canoes and a kayak (or decked canoe). I build and paddle small solo canoes and touring kayaks and I limit the book to those. However, there is clear information on how to modify designs to your own needs and how to use my building methods with plans for canoe and kayak designs from other sources. Creative individuals might apply the methods to a wide range of projects.
An important part of the book is on flotation systems that allow you to save yourself and your canoe if it capsizes; this should interest everyone who uses canoes or recreational kayaks. There is more on the flotation system below.
Wasp on Antietam Creek in winter.
Wasp is one of my favorite canoes. It is a radical design for a safer and more ergonomic solo canoe that I’ve experimented with and refined over the years. The design is called Wasp because it combines flared bouyant ends with a narrow tumblehome waist which makes it easier to paddle. Paddle strokes can be made closer to the hull centerline to provide straight tracking. But it also turns on-a-dime. A pleasant cruise speed can be maintained without much effort due to a hull that is efficient below the waterline. Wasp is especially resistant to capsizing. And, with my flotation system installed, it can be easily re-entered after a capsize, making it much safer. The ergonomic features that provide a shorter reach to the water with the paddle also make Wasp especially nice for fishing. Smaller paddlers find Wasp easy to use, but its large volume hull also carries heavy paddlers and lots of gear. The light weight Kevlar prototype has proven its efficiency, easy handling, and durability during years of hard use on a wide variety of waters.
Kayoo in the Boundary Waters. Kayoo is a decked canoe/kayak with built-in self-rescue flotation.
Plans for both Wasp and Kayoo are included in the canoe building book. There are also plans for a small, 11′ 7″, ultra light weight, and simple to build canoe called Dragonfly. And there are chapters on making paddles, making kayaks and decked canoes, and on making a scale model canoe to learn how to use composite materials.
An important feature of the book is on flotation. My flotation system provides stability to a flooded canoe or kayak. It helps prevent capsizing but also allows a solo paddler to re-enter a capsized boat from deep water without any assistance. The flotation is light weight, inexpensive, easy to install, and has been tested on canoes and kayaks 27 inches wide and wider. It is not an outrigger; the flotation goes inside the boat and does not interfere in any way with normal paddling performance. The flotation becomes effective and very helpful if a boat becomes flooded or swamped, or if it capsizes. The book describes how to outfit existing canoes and recreational kayaks and also how to incorporate the flotation while building a new boat.
MAKING A DOUBLE BLADE OR KAYAK PADDLE
The above article in pdf format has 30 photos and information on making a double blade or kayak paddle in ultra light weight carbon fiber with foam core blades. It is NOT a “stand alone” article but is a useful supplement to the paddle making chapter in my canoe book. It assumes you have the book for the diagrams, materials sources, and basic information on working with epoxy and composites. However, those who have some experience with epoxy techniques might use the information without the book to build a paddle of their own design.
