From: kyak@rockisland.com
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 09:11:27 -0700 (PDT)
Message-Id: <199807301611.JAA01278@cronus.rockisland.com>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: [baidarka] Coaming
>I saw an interesting coaming the other day outside a kayak rental shop on
>Orcas Island (WA). It was on a wood frame in the large volume Bering Sea
>style (Hooper Bay?). The coaming was a bicycle wheel with some additional
>wood strips lashed on. I don't recall the details, but the wheel stood
>out. Of course this makes for a rather large cockpit. One of the books
>shows an Eskimo couple back to back in one of these boats, The Orcas boat
>may not have been full size though; I can't picture fitting any kids down
>inside that boat.
>Paul
Good eye, Paul, it's a (somewhat modified) Hooper Bay/Nunivak type
about 80% of normal size, 13 feet. I posted a preliminary report to the
group about a week ago. I am growing fonder of this boat every day. Fast,
buoyant, responsive, you namne it, it's a very nice boat.
A bicycle rim makes a pretty good coaming, quite strong, but it
didn't save any time which was my orignal intention. There is a thin 5/16"
strip of oak which make up the walls of the coaming and the bike wheel makes
the rim. Put the oak on with 3-M 5200, it'll glue anything to anything. Bent
a fat willow shoot in the channel for the inner tube to finish that area
off- it was big enough that it made a 1/2 round molding which finished off
the aluminum fin a fairly quick and painless manner.
There's plenty of room in the boat for camping, as much as a lower
volume 15 footer might have, but it is a one passanger boat.
Skip