Erez,

1. Baidarka is russian for small boat. That is what the russians called the Aleut kayaks (qajaq or qayaq).

2. They also had umiaks, a larger skin undecked boat for hauling people and gear.

3. Traditionally they were built of wood. George Dyson uses aluminum tubing. They can be very strong or very delecate, depending on the wood used and the thickness of it.

Yes they can be surfed, some better than others.

There are plans in the October '98 issue of "Sea Kayaker" on page 36 for building a skin on frame North Alask Recovery Kayak that was designed for use in the surf.

4. The Putz Walrus can be built from the book. I don't know of any plans that are available elsewhere for purchase. The Putz frame is tressle work, it is not built with traditional ribs. It is actually a Norman Skene design from back in 1923. Putz appears to have modified it, because his drawings are different than Skene's.

Skin on frame kayak building is definitely a fast, cheap, easy way to get a lightweight nice performing kayak.

Mike

: the "Brinck kayak" thread got me thinking: 1.

: I think I'm miising something: are "aleut kayak" &
: "baidarka" the same thing ?

: 2.

: did the aleutians had/have designs that are not "baidarka" ?

: 3.

: all these skin on frame boats that are made of wood ribs, how strong are they
: ?

: can they be surfed on breaking waves ?

: I mean like the october '99 issue of sk, page 27 "surfing for sea
: kayakers"

: or will they break ? (the kayaks that is)

: 4.

: the putz walrus, can it be built just from the book ?

: or is there a need to buy plans ?

: thx

: Erez