: Putz states in his book that his design is Greenlandic,
: but I've never heard of such a construction among Arctic kayaks types.

The original Skene article states the "lines ... were taken from kayaks brought from different parts of Greenland". The form is very Greenlandic, as are most commercial glass and tupperware boats.

: * Screws rust, go figure.

Figure some more ... the screws are either brass or sealed. It also sounds like Tom is planning on freshwater paddling, which is a much less corrosive environment than salt water. Also, Mike correct me if I'm wrong here, but the breaks in your Walrus occurred on glued joints (polyU) where screws were recommended, but not used.

: * No, we scarcely hear such craft explode on farm ponds, but they could
: suffer a slow undoing that could bode disaster as well.

Uhh, yeah. So could worn lashings, skuffed skins, cuts in fiberglass, pinhole leaks, improper storage ....

: * I do. It shouldn't be so rigid. Not a skin-on-frame at least.

Perhaps. I would agree with you that traditional SOF boats are elegant solutions. Still, rigid frames are still quite viable. Note that some native craft were/are built using tenons and pegs, i.e. rigid.

I think we need to take into consideration Skene's (and Putz's) intended uses here. The orginal and Putz implimentations are open cockpit boats. Basically canoe like. They are obviously not intended as ocean going, river running vessels. Many of us here have taken the Walrus far beyond this intention and in doing so may push the design to its limits. Skene, for example, obviously never intended for the boat to be rolled. Even so, the design still holds up well through the modifications we've imposed. The boat should be fine in flat water conditions and is a good means of introducing people to building.

I'd encourage Tom to look into both methods if he has the time.

Bill