''First Disassembly''

First Disassembly (HHM)

This is my grandpa Martin Seeger with his folding kayak, assembling his own design. He is not exactly a contributor to this page but my thanks go to him anyway. He'd have a lot of fun with this page...

This pic is dated about 1928, for all the folks who think they invented the folding kayak :-)

well, that's it :))) Tonight for the first time I disassembled the Folding Greenland Baidarka from within its skin and was able to get all parts out if it :)

Well, nearly all... I had overseen a tack which permanently fixed the skin to the keel right where the rudder is and where nobody can reach the tack to pull it out! The good part of the story is that I have sewed only partial deck covers. I will not glue the final deck cover onto the skin before the cockpit sock is ready and the equipment bags have been fitted to the hull form and attached to the hatch closures. So, for quite a while, the Baidarka will stay without the final deck cover. This is no problem since I already have cut the piece and can glue it on within an hour or so.

With my aluminum Baidarka, the first disassembly was more of a disaster. I had skinned it over the xmas holidays while my family was out. The Baidarka occupied our whole living room. Two hours before my family returned, I was ready to disassemble. It did not work. A stringer was fixed by the skin and could not be removed without sawing through the aluminum tube... I picked up my wife and kids, and they went in and I brought their luggage up and carried the Baidarka sack down, living room looking a bit untidy. That was a close call...

Anyway, here is how my brother Gerald and I have once assembled our kayaks in the field, entertaining the whole small village for the best part of a whole sunny day: