Skined
Published March 25, 2010 | 
Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
– coldplay
Let me begin today’s story by saying again, I’m not a “Greenland” kayaker. 
Whew, I’m glad THAT’s out the way…. Which brings me to yesterday when I drove over to Milwaukee to take a look at my friend Silbs skin-on-frame kayak. The boat is a bit special, at least to me, in that he built the kayak himself in 2005 at a class with Mark Rogers of Superior Kayaks. Honestly I knew I’d buy it.. Well, if I fit.
I think it surprised both of us when we discovered “fit” was not going to be an issue. In fact, I can slip in and out of it as easily as I did with my old Anas Acuta. Silbs told me he had intended the boat to be used for more than simply “rolling” so he made it with a bit more volume. That and the fact that he’s a few inches taller than me made for a SOF that I can easily slide my way into. On the other hand, the volume is the one hitch as well.
Given the time of year, and the fact that I had crawled into more than a few SOF kayaks in my day, I figured if I could fit into the boat on the lawn the rest I could deal with later. As I said, sliding in was pretty easy. The masik, (the wooden beam that sits just over the paddlers lap) was tight enough to force me to keep my legs straight, but it didn’t force any weird bends or distentions to get past it either. Once in, the kayak is fairly snug other than a bit of room under the deck. Meaning, that I sit a bit deeper in the boat than I should to really roll it well. I have to slide forward, or lift my bum way off the seat to layback. The consequences of this showed issue showed up very quickly once I got to the pool.
“Out of the Box” as they say, the SOF rolls fine when doing something more standard like a C to C roll. But laybacks are practically impossible. While I could, as I said, slide forward to pull off some laybacks, I really couldn’t do anything more finicky than a butterfly roll, and that was shaky. I could of course do forward rolls as the high back didn’t get in the way for those. OK, then what?
Well, this is where the fun starts and why I felt a bit more confident buying an SOF without getting into the water first. Now I get to play. With an SOF you know there’s plenty of room to customize and modify without having to be an expert with fiberglass. On the other hand there are some other skills I’m sure I’ll have to be learning that may be every bit as complicated. I’m actually happy to have someone else have dealt with the structural woodworking and sewing. Hell, it was stitched up by a retired heart surgeon, I certainly wouldn’t do any better! (I hope).
I can feel the boat will be a fine roller, but what I must do is make it work for me. While my height was a bit less than Silbs my weight is a bit more. (I’d guess anyway…) I have a sense that sitting about 1 to 1.5 inches higher in the boat may solve 90% of the rolling issues I had in the pool. It would tighten up the connection between the masik and my thighs, and make laybacks much easier. This calls for an easy mod, just a bit of mini-cell on the seat. We’ll try that one out tonight and go from there.
Also on my list of customizations is completing the paint job. Silbs had begun to repaint the kayak black. At first I thought I’d return it all to white, until I realized how easily it scuffed up on the drive home. I’m working on a few ideas. While I think it will go mostly black I had a vision of 15 black SOFs on a beach somewhere, and realized I need to be a bit more creative if I want to be able to find my boat in a “crowd”. Time to play in photoshop!
I have to say there is something special about a skin-on-frame kayak. When we arrived home from Milwaukee, I took the kayak off of the Jeep and set it out on the brown, leaf covered front lawn. I wanted to be sure my old skirt fit it before we went to the the pool. Since I had it set out anyway, put the paddles on the deck and took a few pictures. Mary came out of the house and noticed the paddles on the deck and said, “They look like they belong there.” Yep. That’s because they do. That’s what makes having a Skin-on-Frame kayak kinda cool. (Even if you’re not a Greenland kayaker)
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8 Responses to Skined
I was sorry to hear of your first trial results, especially knowing how competent a roller you are. I almost did add a pad to the seat but was concerned about a higher center of gravity when paddling open water. As I explained, I had some free-play under the Masik and often inserted my rectangular “portable Masik” which is actually a slab of closed cell foam. I have also learned at the QAJAQ camps to pull myself as far forward in the seat before rolling. Good luck, let me know how it goes.
Oh, it will roll fine once I get it fiddled with a bit. When I first got my Acuta I had to chop it up and fiddle with the seat hight until I got it so I could hand roll it with little effort. I can see this is one of those boats.
I understand what you are saying about a higher center of gravity, but guessing by the boat design, you’re torso must be a bit taller than mine. I don’t think that will be an issue. I can also use a pad when I’m rolling and take it out when I’m not. One way or that other.
What you say about pulling yourself forward is exactly right too. I will tell students to do this at first, then work their way back. It’s also a great way to work around high combings and back decks.
Hi Derrick! From experience and from talking to other SOF owners and makers I can say a couple of things. Adding seat height will make it more unstable. I want to be low — no seat. Most of us, myself included, do Greenlandic rolls by moving as far forward in the cockpit as we can. This should give a good tight thigh contact with the masik. If there isn’t good contact then padding is needed. This will also allow a good layback because the rim won’t interfere. If the rim still hurts, you might be able to shave it down a little. What are the dimensions, particularly width and depth of shear? From the photo I can’t tell how low you are sitting in the water and this will make a difference in rolling. Do you want a smaller SOF for rolling or one for touring?
You do look good in a skin-on-frame!
Hi Diane, It’s great to hear from you!!!
This boat is designed as more of a touring kayak than a rolling boat. It’s definitely higher volume than a roller by a good bit. But at the same time I think it should roll at least as well as my Rockpool or Explorer. I can hand roll those boats from the seat. So I need to figure out what I’m not understanding in this one. I think it’s just a bit deeper than my others. Even moving way forward I can barely angel roll which I can do in my sleep in just about anything. I think I can add an inch to the seat height in this one without sacrificing stability much. But I’m not sure. I’ll post tomorrow once I’ve tried a few more experiments. I’ll get those measurements too.
Thanks!
Ultimately there’s part of me that does want a pure rolling kayak, while at the same time I’ve always tried to stick to seeing what I can do in touring boats. I’ve actually only been in a rolling kayak once, and that was at camp.
the boat looks lovely. I hope you get it customized for you and enjoy it!!
Justine
Yep it’s pretty and a nice touring kayak. I messed around for a couple hours last night and just don’t think it will work for me as rolling boat though. I could start hacking away at it, but it’s too nice for that.
I’m really surprised but I think I need something much smaller.
The white man skirt is likely keeping you from free movement inside the Qajaq. With an akuilisaq or tuilik the feet can be put under the foot beam and the paddler can scoot all the way forward till the stomach actually touches the front inside edge of the coaming. Lift the butt a bit and a full layback should be easily accomplished. The scooting forward is also very easy to do while upside down. The “stock” Superior foam footrest and sea sock, while it has considerable safety merit also greatly impedes movement inside the cockpit.
Hi Bruce thanks for the comments. The Skirt is fine actually. I’ve kept it around for years specifically because it’s flabby.
Again these are rolls I can do easily in a variety of kayaks, just not this particular kayak. Sliding up only gives a small amount of improvement unless I literally stuff myself under so the combing is at chest level! So that will not work.
I agree with what you are saying about being upside down and moving forward. I used to do that when I was first learning a stick roll many moons ago.