Well I finally went down to George Dyson's shop here in Bellingham yesterday, and it's everything that I imagined it would be. I called first to see if he was going to be around and told him that I was looking for some fabric just to build a model kayak and not the real thing, at least not yet. He was very friendly and told me to come on down. So I did. His shop is only 8 blocks from my office and I can't believe that I had never stop by before, but I didn't know where he was located until I read his book "Baidarka" that I got in March. There is no indication on the outside of the building that it's a kayak shop, no sign or even a street address for that matter.
As I entered the building, I think I startled him a bit, but just because he's not used to having actual customers walking through the door. This is a large building with a nice view of one of the canals in Bellingham Bay. The shop is divided in half by a separation wall and each side is probably 40x80. Not a power tool to be seen, nothing but hand tools like chisels and planes covering large sections of the walls. Very rustic. There's SOF kayaks hanging from the walls and ceiling (probably 6 or 8 total). They are gorgeous boats. Every inch of space is occupied by either kayaks, tools or supplies. Next I preceded to ask about some covering fabric for a SOF model and that I needed roughly 2 feet by 6 feet in order to build a 5 ft. model. First he handed me a scrap of nylon, but soon grabbed it back in order cut off a better piece from a partial roll. Then we cut two feet off a roll of polyester and continued to talk about how to shrink each type of fabric to the frame. He was very informative. When I asked if he was still building kayaks, he said no and that he was too busy with other projects, but wouldn't tell me what. I also asked if he was ever interested in teaching classes on his construction methods, he just said no. As I was getting ready to leave I asked him how much I owed him for the fabric and he told me no charge. Although this much fabric at his price schedule would have only been $8, I was more than willing to pay for it, but he would not take my money. I reassured him that eventually I would be building some SOF kayaks and would be back to purchase larger quantities. Both fabrics look great and to skin an entire 18 foot SOF would only cost $36. Anyway, I'm rambling. I just thought I would share my experience in meeting with, in my mind, a kayak legend - George Dyson.
SMF