Hi Wayne,

I am in the same boat (bad pun intended) My wife has expressed increasing frustration with my obsession with building a folding kayak. It started as an idea to build the '4 hour quick grip kayak' but lacking suitable trees to start hacking away at I decided to buy the materials, then if I'm going to do a simple kayak than do a better one, so a small single comes along. I am now designing a 1.5 - it's not quite a double, it's a single with a place for my 6yo boy. And due to my situation, a folder is demanded.

The best sites I have found are:

The Amateur Folding Boat Builders' Corner //www.pouchboats.com/building.html
Baidarka Mailing List ://rtpnet.org/robroy/baidarka

The biggest problem I am finding at the design phase is how to join the various parts. Looking at websites has given me some ideas, and prevented some massive over engineering.

The way I figure it is if I stick to copying what has been done before, follow some of the traditional rules then at least the thing will float. If it can't track I'll say it's built to turn, if it can't turn then it's built to cruise and if it tips over then I'm practicing rolling!

Have Fun,

Warwick

: I'm a Newbie here with a growing interest in building my own kayak (I think
: right now my symptoms are sub-clinical, but at what point does it
: officially become a psychiatric disorder?)

: I'm impressed with the S&G and SOF kayaks I've seen on various websites -
: very beautiful and tantalizing. But when I dream about going on kayak
: trips to enjoy the kayak I want to build, everything is a looong ways away
: (I'm in TX and the most interesting places appear to be far flung (FL
: Keys, Baja, BWCA, San Juans). If I built my own more conventional S&G or
: SOF, then I'd be limited to road trips to my put-in points. The distances
: alone would make much of these simply out of reach. BUT if I could build a
: folding kayak myself and be able to hop on a plane. . . well then all
: KINDS of possibilities open up, no?

: Could it be done cheaply and well? Best case scenario I could end up with a
: folding kayak that performs reliably and didn't cost the kind of money
: that the name brands do.

: I figure worse case scenario would be a spectacular failure - the likes of
: which provide my friends and family with hours of enjoyment. (Since I'd
: test it out well after building AND since I've loads of backcountry
: experience backpacking solo, I'm not worried about spectacular failures in
: the wild at this point)

: Ideas? Reactions to my malady? Can anyone recommend treatments for a boating
: diorder should I develop a full blown one?

: ad delirium,
: Wayne