This slide show is about baidarkas. But with a bias towards folding boats and Greenland style kayaks. ''Baidarka'' is a russian word for ''small boat'' which got used not only for Aleut kayaks but especially for Kodiak kayaks which differ noticeably in construction.

This project was initiated by George Dyson's book ''Baidarka''. I consider George Dyson´s three-man kodiak baidarkas to be his most inspiring work, together with the part of the book that treats their history.

But what got me started into the Baidarka thing in the first place, is the nice connection he made between Boeing aircraft, aluminum tubing, scrap yards and modern Baidarkas. That's why I chose the pic with the airframe and baidarka for this page; my interpretation of the theme has always an aircraft bias towards it. If I cannot build an aircraft due to the huge amount of time, money and experience necessary, the next best thing to build is a Baidarka. I took up the construction of five baidarkas as a means of gaining experience for making an aircraft. Especially the three folders helped in learning to take matters more seriously. It seems that others share the same motivation, for an example take a look here, Or take a look at Geralds kayak parts, although maybe not intentionally, they somewhat look like airplane parts as well. My own construcion in comparison somewhat looks like a tank or gun (better than the furniture I made, it all looks like coffins), and the construction was nearly as much effort as a assembling a small airplane kit.

Also, with a folding kayak, I was depending upon airlines a few times for transportation. This is a good place to return the favor I received from the friendly folks there.

These pages also contain travel pics, shown from the perspective of someone carrying around 120 to 140 pounds of gear per person...