Build your own traditional sea kayak
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Build a boat
Build and take home your own traditional skin on frame kayak. At our permaculture farm in Manzanita, Oregon we recreate a working village for one week. Campers gather their own wild mussels and clams, harvest sea vegetables and eat fresh food from the garden. All this and plenty of time to finish the kayaks before putting them in the water and learning basic safety skills.
Please Note Even with seafood on the menu vegetarians will still be happy with a range of options.
Optional shuttle service from Portland Airport or Bend, Oregon is available for an additional charge (see below). To connect with the airport shuttle service, students' flights to have a limited arrival and departure times. Contact us to learn more and before booking flights. Kayaks are shipped down to the Bay Area if you fly into Portland.
Register for Skin on frame kayak building
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Ages 14-18
Pay a $400 deposit out of $1395
Remainder due by July 12, 2010 August 1-14, 2010 Overnight 11am Sunday-3:30pm Saturday Manzanita, Oregon We transport from Portland, Oregon |
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Ages 14-18
$1295
Pay in full and save from $1395 August 1-14, 2010 Overnight 11am Sunday-3:30pm Saturday Manzanita, Oregon We transport from Portland, Oregon |
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Ages 14-18
$35
Shuttle from & to PDX Airport Start & ending days of course Limited times Call or Email to designate a time |
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Payment Plans
For families who need it, we can offer flexible payment plans. Contact Molly to learn more. A non-refundable deposit is always required to reserve your space.
Apprentice with a Master
Become versed in the essentials of boat design, wood bending, knot work and joinery. Our simple method of construction relies on hand tools, and is accessible to all people. We keep our classes small and select. Masters personally instruct apprentices.
Skin-on-frame boats have evolved and been put to the test over thousands of years of heavy use on some of the most dangerous seas in the world. There are many styles and designs of vessels. In this class we create a Baidarka, a millennia old design from the natives of the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea. It is possibly the most sea worthy human powered boat in history. This design evolved from a need to hunt distant game in the middle of one of the most challenging seas in the world. A specialized bow and stern help make this boat able to move beyond its own theoretical top speed.
We go over the basics of boat design and evolution. The first step of construction is building the bow and stern. Laying out the shape of the hull, the Gunwales are fit to our desired beam. The deck is completed, the keel installed and the stringers give the exact hull shape. Oak ribs are steamed and bent to the shape of the stringers and fitted into notches in the gunwales. Every joint is lashed with knotwork as old as the hills. Next comes fitting and sewing the skin with the final waterproof urethane coating. When your done, take your finished kayak home.
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