Customer Reviews

Baidarka: The Kayak

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book looks like a coffee table book, but it is a lot more. It covers history of the Aleut kayak builders, documents the experiences of a free spirit, and demonstrates an innovative method for building a beautiful kayak. The pictures are interesting, beautiful and inspiring. I don't know how this book got published, it does not fit well into any one catagory.

Many of us first became aware of George Dyson and his infatuation with the Baidarka on reading Kenneth Brower's "The Starship and the Canoe", published in the mid-1970s. This book, published about ten years later (after a long journey from one prospective publisher to another) is the fruition of Dyson's vision. It's a history of the baidarka, a history of Dyson's own baidarka building projects, and a basic how-to manual for building your own modern Dyson-style aluminum, nylon and hypalon baidarka capable of cruising open seas.

Even if you never plan to build a boat- or if you have no interest in paddling- this is still a stunningly beautiful and fascinating book.And if you've read "The Starship and the Canoe", you owe it to yourself to get a copy of Dyson's book, to really see what it was that had him so excited about baidarkas. Reading "Baidarka" will give you an entirely new perspective on George Dyson and his dream.

It was so great to read the author's words directly after reading The Starship and the Canoe. Dyson has helped keep alive one of humankind's greatest vehicles in in its purest possible form. While singing the praises of the Aleuts, he doesn't fail to tip his hat to the other greats of boat building, the Polynesian trimaran and the Tlingit cedar canoe. You don't need to be a kayaker like myself to get something from this book.

This is an interesting book. It covers a lot of territory concerning Baidarkas, and is full of very nice photographs. The section on building a Baidarka is tantalizing, but also annoying, especially if one is trying to build one's own from Dyson's description. There is some amount of new-age touchy-feelie sentiment that gets in the way of the historical discourse. Would I reccomend it? If you are a kayaker, absolutely. Otherwise, probably not unless you are a rabid fan of things Aleutian,

Well, this book is the one I set aside when my brother gave me a pack of books to read. I didn't get the idea of aluminum baidarkas; so I read all that other stuff until there was nothing left but this book. Until then, Sea Kayaking still was no option for me. George Dyson got it started, as for so many others. I'm glad I got across his book, for all the good time I spent with his ideas. If you like living your dream, this book is for You.

George Dyson has written such diverse books as Baidarka, Darwin among the Machines and Project Orion. "Baidarka" with its wonderful photographs lets us look over George Dyson's shoulder.

Into history: Old sketches and lithographs show the "white man's" perception of the aleut kayak and kayaking life. Well chosen excerpts take you back in time.

At the "Dyson Baidarka": Information on materials and tantalizing scattered bits on how to build an ancient style kayak with space age materials. The Aleuts used the best possible materials, didn't they? A "how to" manual it is not, but it is essential if you want to build one. And if you build one you are rewarded with a sturdy, elegant boat.

At his own life: The he spent living in a tree house high up in a douglas fir :-) And of course ... he was building baidarkas. I love the images of the aluminum skin on frame boat in the tree house. By the way, many believe that George Dyson single-handedly revived the home-built kayak. "He who has a baidarka is rich" (Gavriil Davydov, 1804) - Thank you George, for making our lives so much richer.

First, I built several of the Dyson baidarkas and paddled them for years. People saw my boat and were inspred to build them too. Last outing several years ago there were over ten Dyson Baidarkas. Not so simple to bulid, you need a complete set of plans and instructions which I do not know if Geroge sells anymore. I have all the complete sets for all the boats still saved, decades later. These botas are revolutionary. I live in Newport Beach where the Olympic kayak racers practice. My boat is faster and a hell of lot more seaworthy than their composites, yar. You have to very comitted and talenetd to complete one of these yaks. They look simple but that is deceptive. I knew George and we corresponded. That was before the internet or PCs. Understand he is a genius. His father and Grandfather are uber-minds, won Nobel prizes. The engines in the Starship Enterprise, warp anti matter, are real designs that can work. Again, the Nobel prize isn't given to idiots. As a matter of fact the Next Generation start trek devoted an entire show to his father's genius when Scotty got trapped in a Dyson Sphere. George is as smart as his parents and lives in a place above us mortals. But I digress. The book attempts to capture a mind that is so free and flowing. It is part poetry of the mind and eye. OK, I understand if some of you do not get the vison, He is Thor Hyerdal and his theories are now being proved and shown just last week on cable "Who discovered America." Hid dad's engines will take a litte longer to prove. OH, I love this book.

A tremendous amount of research and documentation went into this book. First, there is the history of Russian exploitation of coastal Alaska, and indeed of the entire west coast of North America, all the way down into the Mexican Peninsula. I have personally witnessed the author, George Dyson, delivering a slide-illustrated lecture on Russian American history, and was impressed. Wow! The Russians and the natives could not have done what they did without the highly developed native kayak. Second there is a bit of study on why the Baidarkas/kayaks were built as they were, with a bit of personal indulgence and whimsy thrown in. Third, there is the author's experimentation with the use of steel and aluminum tubing (instead of wood) and nylon fabric (instead of animal skin)in the construction of kayak-like vessels, from a length of 16-feet, all the way up to 48 feet. One would need to be practiced and skilled in order to build a kayak with the use of this book, but it does provide the basics of construction.

I was humbled, and finished reading the book feeling impressed with the totality of effort involved.

I wish they re-printed it, this is a must have book if you are interested in traditional Skin On Frame Kayaks and their modern implementations.

It is a marvellous book. Full of great pictures, full of history and with tons of infos... If your interest is to understand the baidarka, and to try to build one, this is your book. New materials for old ideas, that's what this book offers. Moreover, Dyson's personal history is quite nice. It is worth the effort of reading...