Customer Reviews

The New Kayak Shop: More Elegant Wooden Kayaks Anyone Can Build

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a complete presentation of what you will beed to do to build a stich and glue kayak, beginning to end. The designs in the boat are suitable for beginner and intermediate paddlers. People with even modest amounts of woodworking aptuitude will be able to build boats from this book if you can make the time and money committments, in my experience begin at 100 hours and $500. Tool requirements are modest, mostly hand tools, and are discussed in the book.

I built another of Chris K's designs using plans supplied by Chesapeake Light Craft after reading this book. Note that you can get a great deal of additional information from additional sources. The Builder's Forum on Cheaspeake Light Craft's website - www.clcboats.com - contains a wealth of info about building these boats. Please note that CLC is the company that Chris K founded - he has since sold the company, and the current management continues to introduce additional designs. A very large community of CLC builder/owners provide feedback on building issues continuously. Another source - I found it helpful to purchase the full size plans for the particular design I wanted from CLC, which was not included in this book. More on designs below. For $75, you can get the plans and a detailed manual for the design you want. (Note that if you buy plans from CLC, you are entitled to their very good technical support via telephone and email). I found the plans useful, but you can build straight from this book. The boatbuilding forum on www.kayakforum.com also serves a large community of kayakbuilders that are quite ready to answer questions.

Kayaks are like sneakers - they come in particular sizes to fit the paddler, and are designed for particular uses. There are plans for three designs in this book, but do be aware that CLC also has about 20 other kayak designs of various sizes and purposes in their line-up, so don't limit your options by sticking to the plans in the book if it is not going to be the best boat for you. That said, the three designs in the book are as follows: The Severn, a 14 foot, very light kayak for calm water use; the Chesapeake 16, a touring kayak that is probably CLC's most versatile design; and the West River 180, a faster, narrower, and less stable boat better suited for kayakers with some experience. Regarding the Severn, it is harder to build than other CLC designs. If you are interested in a flatwater boat, CLC's current Mill Creek 13 is more versatile and much more stable, is easier to build, and has a large cockpit opening. It is a great boat for beginners and fishermen. If you want a small decked kayak, their 14 foot Chesapeak design is a better choice. I do not think that the Severn ever developed much of a following. Plans for this boat are no longer published by CLC.

The Chesapeake 16 is a good all around touring kayak, and has a lot of storage room. Be aware that is it a large volume boat and is sutiable for heading out loaded with camping gear. It works as an unloaded day boat, but not as well as lower volume kayaks. Plans for this boat continue to be sold by CLC, and many of these have been built to date.

The West River 180 is a fast narrow, tippier boat that can cover a lot of ground quickly. It is, conversly, hard to turn. It is also one of the sleekest looking stitch and glue kayaks. CLC recently retired this design, replaceing it with the updated WR 18, which reportedly offers handling improvements.

CLC holds free demos where you can try out their various boats. These are regularly scheduled in Annapolis, Maryland, and are occassionaly held in various other parts of the country seasonally - check their website for details. If you can't get to a demo, check out the CLC Owner's Club at the website to find a builder near you for the design you are interested - many folks would let you see or try the CLC boat they built themselves.

Finally, if you are new to kayaking and kayak building, it is relatively easy to learn to build and paddle these boats. It is much harder to develop good judgement as to safety in various wind and water conditions. If you are new to this sport, please develop safe practices and judgement by taking lessons, joining a kayking club, and/or reading books dealing with the subject. "Sea Kayaker: Deep Trouble", available right here on Amazon, analyzes a number of sea kayaking accidents, including many fatalities. Amazon sells other good kayaking books as well. If you don't think that kayaking can be dangerous, or that it won't happen to you, you are in over your head, are at risk for mishaps, and owe it to yourself to get educated about how not to become a statistic. This is a great sport that is safe when practiced prudently, however, unfortunately, people die each and every year by being ignorant of the hazards.

Happy building and paddling.

Steve C

My one gripe is that the plans included with the book are close to useless. They're on tiny paper, and need to be severely enlarged before they can be used.

Other than that, this book is an excellent look at what goes into building a stitch and glue kayak. I've built a boat designed by this author, using only plans purchased through the resources listed in the book, and spent many hours on Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River, and the Texas Gulf Coast enjoying slipping silently through the water.

The time estimates are correct, even for someone who is only moderately familiar with wood-working. His materials lists are complete, and the recommendations made are worth paying attention to. In my building, I went contrary to a couple of the book's reccommendations; in hindsight, I would have followed the book much more closely.

I wanted to buy a kayak, but when I saw the prices for a light, sea kayak ($2000 and up) I couldnt beleive it. I looked into building your own kayak...found a company called Cheaspeake Light Craft..the kits were cheap...the boats looked great....could I do this having little woodworking experience? Well, with the help of this book, the answer is a resounding yes!!

This book did not meet my expectations. It does offer good wood working advice, and basic instructions of how to build a kayak, but the "complete plans" "for three new boats" listed on the cover consist of only three to five pages of tiny drawings for each boat. The author also encourages the reader to "buy the plans, or kit, before building any of the kayaks. If I bought the kits, I would expect the directions to come with them, and I feel a bit hosed for paying $15 bucks for a collection of little more than advertisements.

I'm planning to build one of Chesapeake Light Craft's Mill Creek kayaks this winter. I've been reading the CLC forums, the many customer web sites and the back issues of Wooden Boat magazine with articles on building CLC boats, but the most helpful read so far has been this book.

There is a lot to learn about boat building, from techniques to vocabulary. This book will help you build a knowledge base to take on the project of building your own kayak.

Thanks to Chris for this helpful guide!

Purchasing through Amazon is always a delight. Things ship quickly and they are as advertised. This was a last minute gift idea for my brother-in-law and even though I ordered it on 12/19, I received it on time to give it to him on Christmas morning!

This is the second book by Chris Kulczycki and was purchased after the stitch and glue book, once I found that Chris was such a good designer and builder and new what he is talking about I purchased this book as wel and have found it to be a great beeok with real plans for kayaks that are good design and well tested by many builders. This book actual runs through how to build these beautiful kayaks and one canoe start to finish with tips and ways around problems, a real how too with practical experience. perfect book, and is now my bible on all things kayak. I don't know what the kayak shop book was like as this seems to be an upgrade version but it is a great book.

I have both this and the previous edition "The Kayak Shop". I built a Mill Creek (one of the designs featured in this book) from a kit, and it went together without too much trouble and resulted in a very nice kayak. The techniques in this book would apply well to any small stitch and glue boat, but it is a fantastich "shop manual" for any CLC boat (kit or plans built).

Many criticisms of this book center around the "small plans". It's true that the plans are presented small, but they do give all the information needed to build the boat. Having built one already, I feel I could easily build from the book-based plans for any of the models presented. I think that full size plans would only add marginal value, because only very few parts are shown full size anyway. You don't get full-size templates for the panel shapes for example, that is lofted onto plywood using the offsets in the book/plans. If you are unsure about your ability to build from plans in the book, I would say buy the kit instead.

Devlin's book on stitch and glue is a good companion to this book if you are going to build this way.

As an instructional text, the organization is good, it takes you step-by-step through the whole process, including sorting out what you need for tools and supplies. Lots of pictures and clear instructions.

Go build a kayak---it's fun and they will look a lot better than the sea of rotomolded and fiberglass boats out there (even if your woodworking is not perfect!)

Yes, this book relies on CLC kits, and is tied to CLC. No, it does not provide stand alone plans. On the other hand, it is a good read, and provides a clear, concise overview of the assembly process for these boats- which is why I bought it in the first place.

Hi
i bought this book for the plans actually , but as other pepole said the plans are pretty useless , everything in them are very tiny .
if i read the reviews before i probably wasnt buy the book