A friend and I have just finished building two Shearwater Boats Baidarkas. These are stitch and glue plywood kayaks patterned on the Aleut hunters' kayaks.

We have built them in 3.5 mm Hoop Pine marine grade plywood, so they are a very pale straw colour under epoxy and fibreglass.

Yesterday (Sunday 11th September) we held a launch party at Nielsen Park, Sydney Harbour National Park. The launch was attended by 19 people who paddled over in one skin boat, two Cohos, a Chesapeake, the two Baidarkas (of course) and many fibreglass kayaks.

According to Eric Schade, the designer, these Baidarkas are probably the first two completed outside of Eric's workshop. Mine is the 17' model, built full scale with bow and stern carvings also in Hoop Pine; my friend's is a 6% photoreduction of the plans (giving her a 16'6" by 19.75" kayak) with the stern carving, but not the bow carving. We were able to design a bow shape which maintains the cross-sections of the original design, but with a more conventional profile.

The Baidarkas perform exceptionally well. They slice through the water very well, respond well to edging, are insensitive to winds up to the 20 knots we were paddling in. Primary stability is comfortable and secondary stability is excellent, especially for the relatively narrow beam. My Baidarka is more comfortable, in this respect, than my "Arctic Raider" (a descendant of the Nordkapp).

Some unexpected observations: * Heading into a chop, both Baidarkas showed a lot of daylight under the bow keel - the kayaks did not drop quickly into the next trough. * They have a fine entry at the bow keel, but they still tend to "pound" down, given a sufficient drop - the strong flare at the bow slows the descent _really_ quickly * My Baidarka was very manageable under sail (8 sq ft lateen with a sprit) - neutral on a reach, quite stable, easily steered with the occasional sweep between forward strokes. * They look narrower than they are - the width at the bow and stern makes the cockpit area look uncharacteristically small - and they look _very_ low and narrow beside a Coho. * A lot of water comes over the bow even in small waves but the sharply peaked foredeck sheds water well - at no stage did green water coming over the bow reach the cockpit. * Both kayaks rolled very well - the flat deck panels didn't "suck at" the water in the way that my Feathercraft used to - but despite the white-water quality of fit-out, I was not able to hand-roll. * There is not much volume to store gear! * The flush bow and stern hatches with concealed bungees leaked badly, but the Nairn pry-out day hatch (just like the concealed Beckson pry-outs that are optional on Betsy Bays) was absolutely watertight. The bow and stern hatches need some serious alterations.

I will print and scan some photos over the coming fortnight. Some photos during construction, and a short article, are already posted at the URL below.

If you are considering building one of these, I can definitely say you'll be building a very nice kayak. I can also say that it will take a lot more time and effort than a kit or a single-chine kayak! I have logged 330 hours so far and I will probably need to spend another 20 to 30 hours refining the hatches, cockpit fit-out, electric pump (with concealed magnetic switch) and other things.

Andrew

Shearwater Boats: http://www.shearwater-boats.com Part one of our article: http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/mag/43/baidarka.html