Skin-on-Frame Building

After finishing my cedar-strip Great Auk, I swore I would not build another boat for a "while". Then, I attended the South Sound Traditional Inuit Kayak Symposium (SSTIKS) and decided that I really should build a skin-on-frame boat. My 7-year old daughter also attended the symposium and agreed that I should build an SOF...for her. So, here we go again.

My daughter McKinley with a Robert Morris kayak frame

I read Robert's book, as well as Chris Cunningham's "Building The Greenland Kayak" The boat I am making uses ideas from both authors. Both books include information about scaling kayaks for kids.

McKinley is tall for a 7-year old (4' 3" and growing) and slender (62 lbs.). Using strict anthropometric measurements, her boat worked out to be about 13' long and 12" wide. I decided to modify that to 11' (so I could use 10' lumber) and 15" wide (later changed to 17").

Click here to see the construction pictures

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All images and text are copyright by Marcel Rodriguez unless otherwise noted and may not be used for commercial purposes without the prior written approval of the copyright holder. Noncommercial use is permitted.