What are the skins of the kayaks made of?
Our sea kayaks are covered with an 8.5 ounce ballistic nylon, specially designated for skinboats. This fabric was formerly used for bulletproof vests. The skins are coated in a special two-part polyurethane, a coating that is highly abrasion-resistant and UV resistant. The result is a skin that will take an enormous beating, even in heavy surf zones and rock gardens.
How much do your sea kayaks weigh?
The Stellar Sea Kayak weighs 28 pounds, completely decked with all fittings, including the seating pads. A similar sized fiberglass kayak weighs about 55 pounds, and a plastic one weighs about 65 pounds.
Why are your paddles so skinny?
Modern paddles, often called ‘Euro-Paddles’ have come to the shape that they are today because of history. Derived from the British canoe paddle, the first European paddlers that began using kayaks in the Western World took with them what they knew.
Today we know that traditional paddles designed for native kayaks offer significant advantages over ‘euro-paddles’, particularly for long-distance touring or paddling for over an hour at a stretch. With a lower resistance blade surface, traditional paddles like Greenland paddles require increased cadence, building aerobic strength but removing high strain to the shoulders and arms. Additionally, Greenland paddles allow a much wider variety of strokes for maneuvering kayaks.
Are skin-on-frame boats durable?
After paddling my skin-on-frame kayaks offshore in some of the most life-threatening conditions, I have to say I the skins have never once let me down. I have dragged them across beaches loaded with a hundred pounds of gear, rammed them into sea walls in front of waves, and been tossed end over in the surf a dozen times. But, seeing is believing, take a look at this YouTube video.
How do skin-on-frame kayaks compare to fiberglass kayaks?
Fiberglass kayaks are two to three times as heavy as skin-on-frames. In addition, the ability to quickly prototype and make changes in kayak designs allows me to constantly refine and develop my kayaks from one class to the next, from one comment to the next, allowing a multi-year evolution in my boats that no production kayak can ever have. Because each boat is always custom-built, I am never held to a shape simply because of mass-production rules or economy-of-scale.
I have endured heavy hits on rocks with my kayaks that would have easily cracked fiberglass hulls, and done field repairs on skins simply and quickly when hundreds of miles from help. Fiberglass kayaks are expensive, heavy, and very difficult to repair in the field when you need them working the most.
On the other hand, in theory, fiberglass kayaks have smoother hulls, resulting in more efficient water flow. However, in practice, I have not charted by my GPS any noticeable difference in speed or fatigue when paddling either type of kayak hull, even when comparing different materials with the exact same design.
What are comparable costs for other sea kayaks?
Building a skin-on-frame kayak may seem expensive at first glance. When you look more closely, however, you will find that a comparable sea kayak in fiberglass or plastic carries a price tag of at least $2800 (Kayak designs vary widely in their abilities and their cost– a high-end seaworthy kayak will always be expensive due to the high cost of small production). Don’t forget, buying a kayak also does not include the unique experience of crafting your own while learning valuable woodworking skills and more.
Will you hold a workshop in my area?
Maybe! If you would like to hold a workshop in your area, I offer a significant discount for you as an organizer if you can find me a workshop space and get five other students to participate in a workshop. If your location is within a day’s drive, the costs will be less expensive as I will not need to ship my materials pre-prepared. Please contact me at 503-984-8675 or email me at kiliii@seawolfkayak.com for more information!
