John,

I have built 4 kayaks loosly based on plans from that book.

My first was very close to Putz's design. It was okay, but the floor made for a high seat. I did lower the floor some, but it was still rather high. The truss style of construction was okay, but beveling each of the trusses takes a while, and if using poly glue, the joints need to be perfect. Using epoxy requires less perfect joints, but you need to mix each batch, and clean-up is more of a hassle.

My second, was plywood over the stringers, glassed on both sides. I raised the bow 4" based on Skene's plans in the Rudder. I noticed Putz mixed up 20" with 2' on the height of the bow form. I also moved the seat back 2" to eliminate weathercocking. I kept the aft deck flat, peaked the foredeck over the cockpit, and installed a keyhole coaming. This turned out to be a great kayak. It was very stable, tracked great, and turned on a dime when edged. It rolled okay, but was wider than I like at 22" Speed was okay, it worked fine for keeping up with groups, and it was forgiving in rough water. The big problem was the plywood on frame makes for weaker seams than standard S&G, but strength was good for water uses, just not road surfing at 60 mph.

My third was the Skinny Walrus, that was loosely based on the offsets, of the original Skene drawing of the original kayak. I made this like putz suggested, but changed the floor, and the cockpit. I used poly glue and no screws, and did not bevel the trusses. The trusses have boken loose in many places, mainly just the poly glue letting go, but occasionally wood broke. The struss style makes for a stiff structure that doesn't like to flex, and will fail when flexed enough. Traditional beant rib construction is much stronger. Yost style construction would probably mean less frame repairs, but the stations are not quite right for an easy conversion. I skinned it with polyester and the skin has been great over the years. I liked this kayak a lot too, aside from the numerous repairs to the frame. It turns okay, but the keel strip acts like a full length skeg, so it requirs string edging to initiate the turns. This is a good rolling kayak, but is a little clunky because of the boxiness of the cross section.

The forth was a plywood variant again, shortened to 15.5'. I also raised the sheer and gave it plumb stems to add volume to the short kayak. It was meant to be a cross between a fishing and a touring kayak. It ended up extremely nimble, but it weathercocks quite a bit. I have not paddled this kayak much as it went across the country with my older brother.

The basic hull shape is good, a strong tracker that turns well when edged. The flat bottom is not too bad in a narrow kayak. I think the 17' Putz version pushes the width to the max for the flat bottom. It works good, but any wider migh give too much stability.

Mike

: I picked up another book on Amazon, to confuse myself further. It has the
: plans for the Walrus Esquimo Kayak that was created by Norman L. Skene,
: published in 1923 in The Rudder magazine. Apparently it was westernized re
: construction from an actual native kayak.
: Has anyone seen or paddled one of these boats? It appealed to me because the
: shape of the hull is determined by some forms which are included in the
: plans. The two other books on SOF leave me a bit confused on what shape
: hull I will end up with.
: But now that I look at the pictures, the boat looks really flat bottomed,
: wondering what I will end up with if I follow this plan. Thoughts or
: experience?

: Thanks again.

: Anyone in the Los Angeles area willing to bring a newbie into this addiction
: with some hands on guidance?