Building a skin on frame Qajaq

I recently attended Qajaq USA's sypmosium in Michigan in August of 2008. My friend Sharon had been telling me about it for a couple of years. So I decided to attend after making the switch to a traditional wood paddle and learning how to roll.

I was a little wary of the weekend as I was such a newbie and didn't have a hard chine boat or the traditional Inuit paddle. I should have been more worried about being drawn into the darkside even further. The club had qajaqs, paddles and tuiliks for those to borrow who didn't have their own equipment. Everyone was so helpful and nice that I had an unbelievably good time. So much so, that when I go back next year I'll be bringing my own sof qajaq!

I have joined a group of 10 people who are each going to build a skin on frame qajaq. Some of us love to paddle and have no woodworking skills, that includes me. Others are woodworkers and jumped at the chance for a new project, can you believe that? Then there is Chuck, who came up with this crazy idea to ask people to join him and share the cost of renting a building space. He will be working on only his second sof. It is a historical qajaq that has never been built before. Talk about taking on a challenge, what was he thinking?

Chuck will not be an instructor, no teachers here, so hopefully all of us have been busy reading all the great books that are available out there. There are also some very nice people who have also built a qajaq or two that have offered to help us. Hope they stop by the shop soon.

Did I mention we only have the space for 2 months? Guess where I'll be every weekend, but it will be totally worth it. In the end I will have a beautiful boat built just for me.

Just last night I helped set up the work space. Thankfully Chuck has all of the tools we will need. I also went shopping in my neighbor's garage and found every hand tool pictured in the books for the build. Once I got everything set up I actually got a head start on my qajaq...boy is this going to be fun. Can't wait to meet the rest of the group and hope they feel the same way.