We are George Robert and Robert George Laking, building 2x F1 kayaks, starting in November 2021. Phase I, 23 November 2021: we came to build kayaks, these are battleships (some pretty solid workbenches on castors). And the garage needs a tidy! 22 December 2021: Battleships complete! Garage is tidier, too. Also, received 2x kayak kits...
Category: Student Builds
Dale’s Small Pack 66 Canoe in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
My woodworking experience includes home improvement projects and cabinetry, all amateur level. As to boats, I’ve built an Oughtred sailing canoe and a CLC kayak from scratch, a Caledonia Yawl finished out from a bare hull built for me, and two F1’s from tiny drawings before there were plans. And just recently a Large Pack...
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Oliver’s F1 Build, Schwyz, Switzerland
Hi everyone, I’m an 18 year old joiner in the last year of my 4 year apprenticeship. Altought I’m familiar with the machines and everything, I don’t work with solid wood that much. At my workplace, we use chipboard most of the time. This made the build even more interesting for me. 6th October 2021...
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Tibor’s East Greenland kayak – Stockholm, Sweden
Well, here we go again. Bitten by the kayak building bug and just can’t stop myself, hehe. I have always liked the look of the East Greenland kayak and of all the kayaks in Harvey Golden’s book Kayaks of Greenland, my (unbiased of course) opinion is that it’s the prettiest. Harvey, we’re waiting for the...
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15′-6″ Solo Canoe Build “Jimmie”, Oak Park, Illinois
I initially wanted to build a tandem canoe the would nest over my cedar strip canoe. Fortunately, I reached out to Brian and he talked me down. Using his suggestions I started with this canoe at 15′-6″ long, 31″ wide with a 1″ tumblehome and 12.4″ deep. The D/B is .40 and R/B 1.44. To...
Eric’s F1 build in Finistère
Starting with the Greenland paddles. I started with the paddles as it felt less intimidating than starting with the kayak. I chose a beam of red cedar, looking for the ‘ideal’ grain orientation described in the CFK paddle plans. The beam was thick enough to cut out three paddles, below is a picture of the...
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Rory’s F1 Build with Yellow Cedar Ribs, Vancouver, BC
Vancouver, B.C., Canada It’s Early August…I’m standing in my garage taking stock of the offcuts and leftovers from my yellow cedar tandem canoe build. I find myself doing some mental math and realising I have enough yellow cedar left over to make a steam bent cockpit coaming and about 45 F1 ribs..! I was first...
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Berend’s East Greenland kayak, Leiden (The Netherlands)
Building an East Greenland kayak. The kayak was built with the help of Brain Schulz's (Cape Falcon Kayaks) online kayak building course.
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Olav’s low volume West Greenland, Stavanger, Norway
My all-around kayak is the Boreal Baffin P1. It behaves well in rough water, there is lots of storage space, robust, and it rolls like a dream. But perfect, it is not. Long, wide, and a beast to carry. I cringe by the thought of lifting it onto the roof rack solo. I am 169...
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Axel’s F1 build in Arles, Southern France
I built my first kayak in 2017. It was a cedar-strip “Frej”, designed by Björn Thomasson (https://www.thomassondesign.com/en/katalog/mina-kajaker/frej). I love it and go paddling whenever I can. For those interested, my build is detailed here: https://www.thomassondesign.com/en/news/another-two-frej-launched Still, as soon as I finished it I felt like building a new one. And wanted to try another construction...
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