Black Dog Greenland Style Kayak

[nobucks]

We had a good day out on Lake Superior today. We went up to Big Bay, Michigan, thirty miles north of Marquette. Marquette was getting big thunderstorms and there was talk of a tornado twenty miles out on the lake, but we found mostly sunny conditions at Big Bay. The kids hung out on the beach while I paddled my newly skinned Greenland style kayak. My wife and my son gave it a good paddling too, going up and down the beach.

I still have to add the decklines and the bungee.

When we were getting ready to leave the beach, the wind started coming up in microbursts from the shore onto the Lake. Almost went over a couple of times. THe Greenland Style Kayak definitely has a different feel than the Albatross and the Madeline. Whereas those two have good initial stability and good secondary stability, the Greenland Style has less initial stability, but very high secondary stability. Once I got used to the different feel of it, I enjoyed putting it through its paces.

Prototype #1 is 18 feet long, but I was surprised at how quickly it turns, especially if you get it up on edge. I was also pleased to see how fast it goes. It does 5 mph with almost no effort. There was no weathercock either. It always seemed to stay where I pointed it, no matter how hard the wind was blowing. Of course, that can also be a problem. The wind caught me broadside once, ripped the paddle out of my left hand, and started to push me over, as in, tipping over, toward the right side. I instinctively put my right hand down on the surface of the water, figuring I was going to get wet, and was happy to find that when the Greenland paddle was laid flat on the water it acted as an outrigger and pushed me back up. It was a happy accident.

You can see the storm off in the background:

Paddling away:

Posing:

More posing:

My wife:

My ten year old son:

I thought my boy would have some difficulty with the Greenland given it's lower initial stability, but it actually seemed more stable with him in it than it did with an adult. He was really getting on it too, trying to make it go as fast as he could. I have some video of that I'll post later. That was a lot of kayak for a ten year old, but he did well.

 

[nobucks]

That same burst of wind that almost capsized me, flipped a Hobie cat that was downwind from me. The two crewmen struggled to flip the boat back over, but didn't have any luck. After twenty minutes of that, I was debating paddling out to them to find out if they wanted me to call for help on my cell. But, they were at least a half mile out from us, the wind was up, I was paddling a boat that I was just learning to use, with a paddle I didn't really know how to use, and no wetsuit, so I packed up and drove down the road to the Big Bay Harbor to see if someone there could help. Two couples were putting in a big power cruiser, so I asked if they would mind checking on the Hobie that had capsized. They replied that they had seen it happen and that was the reason they were heading out, to see if they could help. So, we headed home, glad that we had stopped in.

Here's the Hobie on its way across the horizon:

Here's the Hobie capsizing:

 

[bearridge]

Friend Joel,

A fine family 'n a fine kayak. I hope the folks in that Hobie had wetsuits. Smooth move ta save yerself. :wink:

respectfully
bearridge

If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know? Steven Wright

 

[Kayak Jack]

Good looking boat, Joel. Nice paddle too. Do you have an Inuit paddle that is a storm paddle? I understand they are a bit shorter.

There's a set of body-related formulae for length of Inuit boat & paddle. I don't remember it, but you likely already know it.

You designed a better West Greenland style kayak that John Lockwood did with his Pygmy brand Queen Charlotte.

 

[nobucks]

Jack, did you get your paddle yet?

This one is not a storm paddle, which is even shorter yet. This is the paddle that the US Postal Service broke in half delivering it to a customer. It looked like they had put it against the curb and drove over it, as it was broken straight through the shaft, with one large splinter taken out of the lower part of the blade. We're shipping UPS now.

Andúril, the paddle that was broken, but has been reforged.

You can see the fiberglass sleeve at the shoulder on the far blade. Since the broken ends of the cedar refused to match up I trimmed the shaft even, used thickened epoxy to glue it back together, then sleeved the break with a fiberglass sleeve, and coated the entire paddle with epoxy. It's an inch shorter now, but otherwise, it works well. This one is really too short for me, but our Greenland paddle guy is making one that fits me. It looks like more storms today, but, if it stays nice, I plan to try this kayak with my Euro style paddle tonight.

We're shipping our Greenland paddles in a PVC tube from here on.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Paddle's here, thanks. I was just fondling it earlier this morning.

 

[cctyer]

Careful Jack, there might be women and children reading this forum!

Sweet looking boat Joel, That paddle is proof that even a monkey can't do it! :lol:I'm refering to the USPS of course. had many a package go missing form there!

 

[nobucks]

I posted video of my 10 year old paddling the Greenland over on YouTube

Obviously, the kayak is too large for him, but I think it shows that it's true what they say, that kids and kayaks go together naturally, that they paddle and handle it intuitively. I basically just put him in the kayak, gave him the Greenland paddle, and said, "Don't tip over because I don't want to swim today!" And away he went!

 

[hairymick]

G'day Joel,

That is a great looking kayak mate. Congratulations. I would just love to build something like that in S&G ply.

 

[dangermouse01]

That is a great looking kayak mate. Congratulations. I would just love to build something like that in S&G ply.

:shock: :shock: :shock:
Mick;
That sure sounds like a hint to Joel and Matt to join forces and come up with one for ya.

DM

 

[hairymick]

G'day DM :lol:

Nah, not really mate. I allready got a shed full of very good kayaks. I am rapidly turning into a canoe man - again. I love my single blades.

If I were in the market for a beautiful sea kayak, Something like that in S&G would do me very nicely though.

 

[bearridge]

top drawer demo....

 

[nobucks]

Thanks for the comments. My son is enjoying the attention and his friends think it's cool that he's on YouTube.

We have talked about, in the future, making our kayaks available as wood strippers, although the Greenland would be better as an S&G. Maybe you'll see such a thing, who knows?

I was out screwing around on the Lake today with the Greenland and decided that it might make a nice sit-on-top. My wife caught the video posted below:
http://www.blackdogkayaks.com/images/video/greenland-sot.wmv

I was sitting with my behind in the seat and my legs outside the cockpit, which actually seemed to be very stable, although I don't recommend it for actual paddling.

My philosophy is that the more that I goof around with something the more comfortable that I become with it, so I did some actual paddling today, then spent the rest of the afternoon riding the kayak like a horse, paddling it as a sit-on-top, and tipping it over.

 

[nobucks]

--

Mick, that's my Black Dog Greenland Style Kayak and we do ship internationally. :wink: We've shipped to the UK and to Canada at a reasonable cost. How hard could it be to ship to Oz? Or, maybe we could fly the kit there as checked baggage and work in some Australian paddling?

To answer your other question, yes, I've used HH-66 and vinyl to make all kinds of accessories. I've made flotation bags, dry bags, and paddle floats. Once I start making stuff, I just can't seem to stop.

The dry bags that I've made are for my cell phone and my camera, but, as you note, the flotation bag would be an easy way to make a dry bag for gear. Just leave out the inflation tube and the top seam, and add some velcro at the top.