When I began building canoes, it never occurred to me that I might want to paddle in water that was much bigger than the inland lakes and streams that surrounded us. Since those days, I have had the opportunity to paddle in coastal waters off of the east and west coasts of the United States and Canada as well as in the Great Lakes. For those waters, a sea kayak is a useful boat. So in 2007, I decided to make myself such a boat. I had come into some quarter-sawn Black Hills Spruce and I didn’t have a good source for cedar, so I decided to build a skin-on-frame boat instead of a woodstrip boat like others I had previously made. I read a couple of books on skin on frame boats and I found a set of plans for an expedition boat. The finished boat is 17’6” long and paddles very quickly on calm waters. I have paddled it in the Puget Sound as well as in area lakes and enjoy the way it handles.

One problem with being an owner of such a boat is magnified by owning several canoes and kayaks. One needs a place to store them. Canoes and kayaks store quite easily by hanging them from the rafters in the garage and there is room in our garage for several.

Add to the storage of the boats one cat. Our cat came to live with us when our daughter was still living at home. She had a touch for finding just the right cat at the animal shelter. And, after living together for several years, we have grown quite attached to the cat. The cat, of course, thinks that the entire house is hers and that we exist to serve her. Nonetheless, the cat is required to sleep in the garage.

Now I have made two very nice beds in the garage for the cat. One is right next to the door, with food and water nearby and just a short distance to the litter box. She has everything she needs right in one place. The cat, however, likes to climb around the rafters. So I took some old carpet and fixed a second bed up in the rafters, right next to the chimney, where it is warm.

The cat, of course, has taken to sleeping on the boats that hang below the rafters.

The expedition kayak is covered with aircraft Dacron. The think skin of Dacron and the sharp claws of the cat doe not seem to me to be a good combination. So on Friday I took the kayak out of the garage. Yesterday morning I decided to take it for a paddle. I did discover some small holes caused by the cat that will need to be repaired, but the paddle was great fun. Because of the way the seat is installed in the boat, the small amount of water that leaked didn’t get me wet and the repair will be relatively easy. Nonetheless it does need to be repaired.

After paddling, while I was still at the lake, I loaded the boat onto the car and decided to take a picture since the boat is longer than the car.

I suppose that there are some people who might wonder why a guy needs a boat that is longer than the car. There are plenty of people who wonder why a guy might need so many canoes and kayaks as I have collected. Basically, if you don’t understand the need for different boats in different situations, you probably don’t need as many boats. Like many other things in life, it depends on your ideas, thoughts and passions.

To my eye, the kayak looks good on the roof of the car. It rides very well up there. I could drive practically anywhere I would want to go, hauling the boat like that. And it makes a statement about the kind of person I am. 12-year-old car with over 200,000 miles on it with a hand-made boat on the roof says something about my priorities.

Boats always look awkward when they are out of the water. The kayak was made to be paddled. Its shape is based on the historic kayaks of Greenland. They were practical boats, designed for specialized hunting. For centuries, the shape evolved not around recreation, but around the need to be able to travel significant distances over the water without the aid of motors or even sails. The boats had to be able to withstand storms and be paddled into the wind as well as handle waves. The long narrow boats were quick and easy to paddle and could handle 4 to 6 food swells. I’d never have the courage to paddle in such conditions, but the boat could take it in the hands of an expert paddler. Another treat to these kayaks is that they are warm. When the spray skirt is attached, there is insulation around the lower part of the body. The fit is snug. When I’m in the boat, my feet, knees and hips are all in direct contact with the boat. When I move my lower body, I feel the boat come along with me. I can tip and turn the boat by tipping and turning my body.

The original Greenland kayaks were made of available materials. In that climate, wood was scarce and the frames were generally made out of driftwood of a variety of types. The pieces were short and so the long boat had to be assembled using a lot of joints in the woodwork. The side frames are trusses with lots of small diagonal pieces. Skin on those boats was animal, usually seal. I do not have a source of sealskin readily available, so my boat is covered with aircraft Dacron stretched tight. In the water it is nearly silent.

These boats were not designed for long lives. In their original use, they were often built over the winter and paddled for two or three seasons. Being made all of natural materials, they were just left along the shore and they would soon degrade into the soil. The next boat would have a similar shape, but the shape would evolve depending on the needs and experiences of the hunter. A seasoned hunter could go through ten or twelve boats in his lifetime.

Compared to them, I don’t have all that many boats. There are just three kayaks and two canoes.

And there is a rowboat under construction in the garage.

And when I finish that, perhaps a new expedition kayak is in order. . .

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