: Here are some pics of a kayak we launched last month.
: My shop buddy Rick (he lurks this BBS) beat the ice by 2 days for the launch
: of his boat.Arg I will have to wait for spring the water to soften up
: to launch mine.

: Vitals: Name Mistress Length:12 Feet 6" Max. Width:25" Weight: 33
: pounds

: Materials: Basswood and Mahogany
: .
: Design: Rick was looking to build a wooden kayak that would perform like
: those plastic laker yaks you see poking round on the lakes, but a whole
: lot prettier. He took a David Hazen design cut feet off the length, inches in
: height, added inches here and there, and he got a a neat set of
: performance characteristics. With a whole lot of great ideas garnered off
: this BBS. (Thankyou all very much!!!) and 10 months of work he got
: to splash her

: Christening: This project was launched and christened on November 19th, with
: a bottle of Sioux City Root Beer on a near by rock, by Lady Sarah Morgan,
: in 22 degree weather, with snow on the ground, and breezes running 0 to 8
: knots. Seven New Hampshire parka people and one wet suit person were in
: attendance.

: Christening Name: Her Christening name "Mistress" is derived from
: Rick's wife Sarah's mid project feelings about this boat. After months of
: listen to her husband say, "I am going over Russ's basement to
: strip" and who at times in the past year has been just twinge jealous
: of the time devoted to this project took both an enthusiastic role in
: Rick's efforts, but also came to see the project as the boatwright's wharf
: girl. This perception only intensified when half way through the project
: when she learned that this boat was a blonde.

: Performance characteristics: Mistress is meant to be a fresh water creature,
: cruising flat water lakes. She was also designed to perform better loaded
: camping gear etc. With a load of less then 200 pounds her initial
: stability is quite lively and, her secondary stability is high. However,
: under a load of greater then 250 pounds she is a very stable boat. She is
: designed to carry in addition to the person in the cockpit, a cargo of up
: to 350 pounds. Under a load this boat is a dream to paddle. She is fast,
: turns quickly, but her deep V bow and stern holds a straight course even
: in 15 knot winds and she is surprisingly fast for her length.

: Rigorous Performance Testing: The real truth is that before Mistress's first
: sea trials, we, released her from the finishing saddles for an extensive
: set of snow trials. (Hey it's NH) We tested her for paddle comfort,
: coffee drinkablity, sledablity on snow and of course initial and secondary
: stability. Finally, we tested her for sheer over all grin factor. In each
: case, she proved a worthy vessel. Been a heck of a lot of fun to build
: too!

: All in all, Mistress is a joy to paddle and sparkling wet and lying in the
: sunshine she is a beautiful lass worthy of the jealousy of any man's wife.
:

: Bon Voyage Mistress!! Long may you run.

: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=1428795&a=10708251&p=36769182

Looks Great
An all around boat like this is sure to get a lot of use.