Seawolf Kayak

Building Kayaks in Heaven (or Chewelah)

kiliii — Thu, 03 May 2012 05:25:01 +0000

Just returned from a lovely kayak-building course in eastern WA state. Chewelah, to be more precise. It was, as you can imagine, gorgeous, but on top of that it was sunny and we worked with the doors open to the outside world most of the week. A lovely time, and six brand new boats made by some very skillful builders. Here are a couple of photos.

Why Greenland Paddles won’t kick your butt

kiliii — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:20:32 +0000

I happened upon an excellent post from kayaker extraordinaire Greg Stamer explaining the differences and also primary advantages a Greenland paddle has over other kayak paddle types, especially the wing paddle. More after the jump.

Here’s a quote:

To generalize, a racer is often trying to maximize speed over distance usually with an extremely light, unladen kayak. A sea kayaker is often trying the maximize the number of “miles per Snicker’s bar”, often with a heavy or gear-laden kayak, day after day. These are related, but are very different things and need to be viewed separately.

In a racing situation — very light kayak, 10 miles or less, using a very high stroke, I’m about 1.5 – 2 minutes per mile faster with my wing than with a GP. That’s not much for touring but is an eternity for racing. Unfortunately this is not a perfect test since my current “go-fast” kayaks have a fairly high foredeck that makes it difficult to fully bury the blades of my GP at the catch. I have won local races with a GP over wings, but if I want my best time I use a wing.

You don’t get something for nothing. The speed comes with a price.

What’s the price of that extra bit of speed? Find out more at Greg Stamer’s blog.

In Seattle, nothing stops kayakers

kiliii — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:28:46 +0000

The snow’s been piling up the last few days and I’ve been feeling a bit antsy as all the neighborhood kids are sledding away down the hills. So what’s a man to do but go kayaking with some friends? Went around Seward Park in the evening, the sky glow felt gorgeous and it was a beautiful. And yes, I’ve been hitting up the Instagram look for some fun. Photos after the jump.

Watch Eastern Arctic build a kayak and talk aout the reality of global warming

kiliii — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:06:55 +0000

A NW Coast Painter transforms a Seawolf Kayak into a Work of Art

kiliii — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:43:09 +0000

One of our students from Canada, Alex Schiebel sent me some images of her Seawolf Stellar Sea Kayak, painted by a friend of hers, a NW Coast native artist named Beau!

The painting is of a supernatural serpent vessel who carried a young boy around the world 4 times after he was resurrected from near-death.

Alex says the boat was exhibited at a show and then paddled in a race, which is exactly what I think of our kayaks– beautiful works of art that are for real serious paddling. Another picture if you read on.

It was in an art show here so a lot of folks and tourists in town saw
it, and I think it would have sold if the price had been reasonable. Beau
wanted a large number on it and I didn’t want to argue about it.
My boyfriend paddled it in a race here a few weeks ago and people were
taking pictures of it all the time (I was in edmonton), so I think people
find it pretty sweet. I still gotta polyurethane over the painting, then
it’s gonna go to a gallery in port mcneil and maybe to one of beau’s art
shows in vancouver in the fall. Mostly I think he wanted it to be
photographed as part of his ‘modern art’ repetoire, but we’ll see what
happens after that. maybe it’ll just end up with me. it’s pretty wierd
thinking of it just hanging on someone’s wall, but i guess that’s what
these carvers and painters deal with all the time. -Alex Schiebel

Hide Kayak Workshop?

kiliii — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:07:05 +0000

Folks, I am thinking about putting on a workshop where we all build a new true hide kayak skin-on-frame. Just wanted to inquire about people’s interest.

1. The whole class would build one kayak.

2. The class would take about 5-8 days.

3. I would allow (but not prefer) drop-ins.

4. It would cost about $250-300 for five participants.

Not sure about scheduling yet, or where we’d do it, but if you’re interested, let me know!

No more Expeditions

kiliii — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 21:59:34 +0000

For 2012 and beyond, Seawolf is no longer offering guided expeditions. Although it has been great fun and successful over the years, our energy is being refocused into kayak design and building workshops.

Kiliii says, “Unfortunately due to both the rising costs and the effort involved in marketing our expeditions, we’ve decided it’s best to close down our public kayak adventure program. Both Canada and Mexico also began asking for additional permits which have made it cost-prohibitive for our trips to the BC coast and Baja. But my enthusiasm for kayaking certainly hasn’t ceased, rather I am refocusing energy on kayak design and a new kayak due next summer.”

Singing to Orcas

kiliii — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:08:10 +0000

Apparently orca whales simply cannot resist singing. This summer I took some friends out to paddle the West Coast of San Juan Island and we encountered JPod, and their two new calves could not stop coming over to investigate our singing and our skinboats…

And no, we did not paddle up the orcas. WA State now has new rules regarding kayaks at a distance of 200 yds, but since they are quite a bit faster than we are and we are forced to stop if they come close, then we pretty much sit still for 4 hours while play around us. But I tell you, it’s the singing. For the NW Coast Indians, singing brings the seals. For us, it brings whales. Always has.