Canoe or Kayak?

Not one hour in the workshop will seem too much when you float over the water in your self-built canoe for the first time!

Canoes and kayaks are paddled in the direction of view. Canoes are especially suitable for relaxed after-work trips, but also for canoe trips lasting several days with a lot of luggage. Handling is easy because you just jump in and start paddling. Kayaking is a bit more sporty, because the cockpit doesn't give you much freedom of movement, but you're faster and defy waves and wind better. The origins of this craft go back thousands of years with the construction of dugout canoes and birch bark canoes. Boats that were used for hunting, transportation and survival are now used for recreational purposes, sometimes in unaltered form, and are made using a mixture of traditional and modern construction methods. The fascination of canoe building in terms of craftsmanship lies primarily in the size of the project, but at the same time it can be as light as a feather! Building a canoe is a project that challenges the craftsman time and time again due to the lack of right angles, and inspires the creation of custom tools. The simple and at the same time pragmatic form of a canoe hull, combined with the visual and mechanical advantages of wood as a material, gives rise to elegant boats with a high value for use.

The Kayak

Fast, agile and withstanding the elements. The kayak was invented in the Arctic for a reason, because it can be used even on the open sea and in freezing cold. Today, the centuries-old measurement systems help us to build kayaks that are perfectly adapted to our body shape. You won't find that in any store!

Skin-on-Frame

The kayak originated in the Arctic region, where it was used for hunting and fishing. Today's skin-on-frame construction is based on the historical construction of the Inuit, who built the kayak frame from wood and bone and covered it with animal hides. Modern sea kayaks are based on typical shapes of these historic kayaks. When building a traditional Greenland kayak, steam bending the ash or oak ribs is a particularly interesting skill. A modern alternative to the traditional skin-on-frame construction method is the fuselage frame construction method, in which the steam-bent ribs are replaced by frames made of sheet material. These can be sawed out with a jigsaw or, as with the NANOOK kayak kit, milled using modern CNC technology.

Stripbuilding

In the strip construction method and the stitch-and-glue construction method, filigree wooden hulls are covered with fiberglass-reinforced plastic. This creates very light, robust and visually appealing kayak hulls. The strip construction method is the royal class and requires skillful craftsmanship and endurance. In contrast to the stitch-and-glue construction method, in which planks of thin plywood are joined together (stitched), the strip construction method can be used to produce not only hard- or multichined but also round hulls. This is made possible by the use of narrow wooden strips, which can be perfectly joined at any angle by means of concave and convex milled edges.

The Canoe

Traditional, open and universal. Whether for a relaxed evening trip or a several day canoe trip with 200kg luggage. The canoe will take you almost anywhere. Whether you choose the Wood&Canvas, Stitch&Glue, Skin-on-Frame or the strip construction method: the new challenge will reward you with new skills and the most beautiful canoe - your self-built!

The classic canoe originated in North America, where it was made by sewing birch bark over a wooden frame. Later, the "wood and canvas" method of construction developed, in which a wooden hull was covered with impregnated canvas. The canoe is open to the top, but can also be equipped with a spraydeck and buoyancy bags like a kayak for white water rafting. The canoe is steered by the person sitting at the stern. The "J-stroke" allows paddling without changing the side of the paddle. This saves power and also looks better. Many other paddle strokes allow you to go sideways, turn on the spot, or cross a river. For longer portages, the thwart - a wooden bar placed in the middle of the boat between the gunwales - is used to shoulder the canoe. The seating position, unlike a kayak, can be varied and allows for sustained paddling over long periods of time. Thus, the canoe can be paddled kneeling, sitting or even standing. With a payload of sometimes several hundred kilos, a canoe is more suitable than the kayak for longer hiking trips with a lot of luggage and several people.