New to this

[Mel Iida]

I've been messing around with the idea of building a cedar strip kayak for a while and I believe I have the woodworking ability to do it. I've looked at a lot of the designs and have narrowed it down to some degree. I've been looking at Laughing Loons' Northstar design. The bow and stern have somewhat unique designs. I'm not worried about the build, but does anyone have any opinions about the kayak? Do the bow and stern make it more or less seaworthy? I plan to do day-tripping and short weekend outings with it. Thanks for your ideas!

[Glen Smith]

The North Star sure is a sweet design. Is it the right boat for you? I don't know. There are several North Star builders who participate in the Guillemot Kayak Building Forum so if you do a search there for "North Star" you might find some performance reports.

Guillemot link: http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/index.cgi

[Bryan Hansel]

There is a lot of speculation about the bow and stern shape of Aleut kayaks. I don't think that anyone knows for sure what the odd shape compared to other boats really accomplishes, but it won't make the kayak any less seaworthy.

I'd love to build on of these eventually. They're supposed to be very fast.

[pawistik]

The North Star certainly looks interesting and is quite unlike anything I've paddled. At first look I thought that the high bow which seems to ride way up out of the water would cause headaches in a side wind but that knife-like keel must keep it on track. It looks like it might not be the easiest boat in the world to build but then again, neither is the Guillemot I'm cutting my teeth on.

Good luck in whatever boat you settle on.

Cheers,
Bryan