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Yak Mfg. Links

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  SeaKayaker 
#1 ·
#6 ·
Roop,

Thanks.

My dream boat is a CLC, I just don't have the time to assemble one.
Well, it did take me quite a bit of time (I started when school got out, in early June, and finished in early August, but I did not keep track of hours), but considering that I had no boatbuilding experience nor had I ever worked with epoxy or fiberglass, it was not that difficult and turned out beautifully. The biggest project I did on my own before the boat was probably making a surf rod, and yet I did not find anything in construction very difficult.

How does yours handle beaching, draggin over rocky sand, etc...?
Well, I am much more careful with a wooden boat than with the plastic ones, but it is holding up well. I have not had anything go through my fiberglass, and I have hit some rocks and beached her on rocks. I varnished the entire boat (the wood is beautiful), although varnish is not as durable as paint. Despite this, the varnish has held up well, although there are a few scratches.

Why did you choose the North Bay XL?
I wanted a boat capable of covering water quickly (wooden kayaks are known for speed), and the North Bay XL is over eighteen feet long and twenty-two inches wide. In other words, she is a pretty fast boat. I usually paddle in a narrow lake across the street from our house that is about seven miles long, making for a nice fourteen-mile round trip paddle. With the North Bay XL, I can do that in under four hours (at an easy pace, if I paddle hard, I can do it in 2 hours and 45 minutes). Before I built my kayak, I had a ClearWater Designs St. Lawrence, a fifteen-foot, five-inch long, twenty-four-inch wide kayak and so I felt comfortable with a twenty-two inch beam. The North Bay is also suited to open water, and I live relatively near the lower Potomac. I find the twenty-two inch beam enough for fishing, although I generally prefer wading (it is more suited to sight fishing, which I like). Finally, the North Bay is a beautiful boat, based on the West Greenland skin boats.
I have some pictures of my boat at Webshots.

School starts again tomorrow (and midterms are coming up), so I will be busy and may not be able to respond quickly to you. :(
 
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