: Lately I've been
: looking at long skinny boats like the Pax 20 and Mystery,
Kurt,
I built the Pax 20 it is a long waterline and fast paddle. The drawback to me was the 4 panel hull and resulting hard chine didn't like rough water. I like a rounder hull shape especially in rougher waters. The baidarka is just that, a long waterline rounder hull shape with good rocker forward. This results in a rough water qajaq that surfs and responds well to leaned turns.
I built the Tom Yost SOF Nikumi and the Nikumi 19. The 19 is designed 19' long and 19" wide. It is a high performance Qajaq with a very low volume. The low flat rear deck and low volume make it a cinch to roll.
The reason I started this thread was I have been thinking about how the Nikumi would perform as a hard hull. Then Bill H. started in on building an expedition Baidarka using the wood strip instead of skin. Now I look at my SOF Nikumis and think about pulling offsets off the hull and striping them. So I emailed Tom and he sends me some pictures of 2 he built some years back.
http://sz0151.ev.mail.comcast.net/service/home/~/BaidarkaA.jpg?auth=co&loc=en_US&id=52080&part=4
I think they are wonderful builds and I am hopelessly hooked on the idea. A strip Baidarka along with the Outer Island, oh yea I am so there.
Clayton Plunkett