The Bear Mountain Boat Shop

Thank you both! Yes, if I remember right Cedar is fairly expensive in my area - pine tends to be the cheapest you can get but of course I haven't checked prices on the quality of pine that I would want for use in making a kayak - I used pine for my last building project and when I destroy that stuff...

No, by "clunker" canoe, I mean the aluminum model my dad picked up when my brother and I decided we wanted a canoe. Its big, heavy, flatbottomed, slow... basically a fine canoe for a river float but not very asthetically pleasing, and I've never tried standing anywhere but in the middle bu...

Just wanted to mention that I am considering suggesting the Prospector Ranger 15 for my dad, as initial stability is the biggest thing for him (you should hear him yell when my brother or I stand up partway in our clunker canoe, to reach something... and that thing is not only impossible to sink, it...

OK I'm still in the planning stages of my kayak, in fact still haven't settled one hundred percent on a design yet. I have one strip built and one stitch and glue option picked out, and I go back and forth and then sometimes I think maybe I could use the plans for those two and create my own hybrid ...

Oops! yeah I guess girls would usually have lower center of gravity than guys. It doesn't hold true in a seated position (when he's standing up obviously he's got the high center of gravity that comes with being over6') with Mike and I, simply because he's a skinny scrawny kid with long legs and not...

Hmmmmm.... alright... plans not book. I'll probably end up with another book anyway. Rapt, thank you for the explanations on hydrodynamics. Physics isn't my thing, so when I see a lot of those specifications on the kayaks, I start going crosseyed. Its a huge help to have it laid out in plane English...

I do really like the Caspian Sea boat... I had seen it earlier but I misread part of the description and placed it in my, so-so pile. Its now in the "good" pile :smile . I didn't like the Venture as much. It seems like the Caspian Sea would be more likely to perform well in a variety of si...

http://www.laughingloon.com-- I really like the Georgian Bay kayak, has anyone ever tried it? In general, I think I'm looking for a kayak with more rocker than a lot of the plans I'm finding online. Max length 17' simply because I can imagine myself trying to haul a 20' kayak on top of mycar, and th...

Most of my longer trips are on fully navigable rivers, no protaging at all... My main lake for canoeing (and kayaking once I get one made) is all connected, too. So no, not much portaging at all. I am totally certain I want a kayak. I like the fact that it is covered - I don't know why it appeals to...

I am preparing to build my first kayak and am wondering about paddles. All of my kayaking experience thus far has been with a borrowed kayak and a borrowed paddle, so I am unsure of what type of paddle I prefer for a kayak. How easy or hard are paddles to make? Basically, would it be worth my while ...

I like a long paddle for my height, too. I don't know the exact lengths on ours (I'm at my dorm and the paddles are at home) but I know that the shorter paddle was bought by my dad on my brothers directions as "the correct length" for me (dad had never canoed before, my brother and I had, ...

Hello! I have been looking for plans to build my own kayak for more than a year now, and have mostly just managed to confuse myself. I have some woodworking experience and will also be relying on my dad's expertise in the area - he would like to build a canoe. I am open to strip, plywood, skin-on-fr...