From The Peter Strand Collection
Published August 11, 2011 | 
Saw an ad in the newspaper that caught my eye
I said to my baby this sounds like the ticket for you and I
It said volunteers wanted for a very special trip
To commune with Mother Nature on a big wooden ship
If you’re like me and you couldn’t put two boards together to save your life.. (Well, I did build a porch once. . but.. oh, nevermind!) and kit boats and classes just won’t save you from your own lack of time or talent, that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the experience of paddling your own hand-made skin-on-frame kayak. The trick of course, is finding someone to build it for you that won’t make you feel like a second class citizen for not doing it yourself. To make things even more challenging, if you try googling (a verb??) something like, “skin-on-frame kayak (or qajaq) builders”, you’ll get lots of links to information on building your own, but almost nothing about buying a pre-made or custom boat. If there are a bunch of commercial SOF builders out there other than Cape Falcon Kayaks, there’s some serious search engine optimization to be done. Well, one builder that I can recommend is Peter Strand. In fact, I had one of his kayaks come visit me yesterday. Continue reading
Posted in Kayaks, Paddling, People, Traditional Paddling | 
Peter Strand, skin-on-frame, SOF, Traditional Paddling | 
3 CommentsHaving Been Restrung
Published May 26, 2011 | 
If you’ve been following along in earlier posts as I worked on putting leather lines on the skinboat, you’ve not seen the finished product. Here it is. Now I need to get back to work. Only one workday left before I head out to Michigan by way of Chicago for the West Michigan Coastal Kayaker’s Symposium. You know what the hardest part of preparing for a symposium is? Well, deciding what kayak to take of course! More on that later… IF i find the time. 
Back in Black
Published April 3, 2010 | 
Watching the painter painting / And all the time, the light is changing
And he keeps painting / That bit there, it was an accident
But he’s so pleased / It’s the best mistake, he could make
- k. bush
Ok, so there’s this whole vanity thing. (Disregard anything I may have implied in my last post!!). No, I didn’t suddenly buy another skin boat. This is the same beast with a new doo. Next comes a glass of red wine, some fine paint brushes, some leather, and a carving knife… I think I’m re-discovering my inner artist. Still, chances are even that I could end up selling it when I’m all done. We’ll see. But for the moment there is a certain joy in having a kayak that I can fiddle with. This canvas boat has become, my canvas.
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.
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