My Sea Glider at Cass Park, Ithaca, 2006 (click to enlarge)
Sea Rider and Sea Glider Folding Greenland Kayaks
In August of 2004, I built a Sea Rider folding kayak as designed by Tom Yost. In late spring 2006, I built a companion Sea Glider. From my house downtown it is a short 5-block walk to put in at Six-Mile Creek, then a nice paddle out the creek and inlet into Cayuga Lake. You can see a journal of the Sea Rider build here.
The Sea Glider and Sea Rider are low-volume Greenland-style kayaks with flat rear decks built for rolling and speed. The Sea Rider is about 19" wide and 17 feet long. The Sea Glider is 18" wide and 18 feet long. Both kayaks are a lot of fun and far more stable than you would initially assume.
PDRacer #1, "DUB"
PDRacer "Snarked"
In the summer of 2005, I built PDRacer #46, Snarked. The name comes from the fact that, as a box-boat, you could easily imagine the bowsprit getting mixed with the rudder. The PDRacers are easy-to-build plywood boats designed to get you on the water with a minimum of fuss and cash. Unfortunately the PDRacer is too heavy to carry to the creek and back, so the launching of Snarked is delayed until I move to a apartment on Cayuga lake (fall 2006).
Matt Layden's micro sharpie "Paradox"
Paradox Microcruiser
As of June 2006, I am beginning to build a copy of the lug-rigged sharpie microcruiser Paradox, designed by Matt Layden. This is a tiny sailboat, under 14 feet long and only four feet wide, but so well-engineered that Matt lived on it for years, sailing up and down the east coast from Connecticut to the Bahamas and back. It is a radical design with an enclosed cabin, internal controls, lots of storage space, and chine runners instead of the traditional keel. Despite being heavy for its size, Paradox can float in just 9 inches of water!
I will be keeping a daily build journal as I work on my own version of Paradox.
