Kayaks You Can Build: An Illustrated Guide to Plywood Construction (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Greg Rossel (Author) "THE KAYAK IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST "homebuilt" boats..." (more)
Key Phrases: firm sanding block, plywood kayak, okume plywood, Mill Creek, System Three, Rob Roy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Full of thoughtful, helpful advice... excellent guide... the next best thing to the authors' personal instruction. -- Diana Mumford, Wave Length Magazine 12/2005

Writing is lucid, good-humored and easy to follow. The book's glossy color photographs are tasteful and accurate... methodical and straightforward. -- Dana Wilde, Bangor Daily News 03/07/2005

Review

Numerous tips and tricks of the trade... breaks the process into manageable, day-by-day steps. (Tod Riggio Woodshop News 200411)

This book should be required reading for those thinking of building their own kayak. (Library Journal 200412)

Details rarely covered in other texts, such as finishing varnishes, deck fittings, rudders and steering gear... little gems of information. (Patricia Coppard Victoria Times Colonist 20050109)

Hints for saving money, saving effort or saving your health...for the wooden boat builder this is an essential reference work. (Canoeist 200512)

Writing is lucid, good-humored and easy to follow. The book's glossy color photographs are tasteful and accurate... methodical and straightforward. (Dana Wilde Bangor Daily News )

Does double duty as an inspiration to build beautiful kayaks and as a shop manual for their construction. (Christopher Cunningham Sea Kayaker )

Full of thoughtful, helpful advice... excellent guide... the next best thing to the authors' personal instruction. (Diana Mumford Wave Length Magazine )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books; illustrated edition edition (August 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552978613
• ISBN-13: 978-1552978610
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #423,373 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Book for Anyone Doing Stitch and Glue, October 17, 2004

By	Lloyd E. Peterson (Sacramento California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is more complete than the manual that came with the two Chesapeake kayaks I built this year or "The New Kayak Shop" I used to augment the manual. It would not serve as a stand alone as it does not include plans.

However, given plans or a kit this book will provide basic and detailed techniques, and special tricks that will help you build a very good boat. I will read it very carefully before building my next.

The organization makes it especially useful as a reference book. A little over half of it covers the techniques for building and finishing stitch and glue kayaks. The remaining portion is a step by step log of the actual building of Chesapeake Mill Creek, a Pygmy Coho, and a Bear Mountain Enterprise. The Enterprise is a hybrid with a stitch and glue hull and strip built deck.

The authors are very much on appearance rather than performance. There is much detail on varnishing. Note that the three kayaks built here do not have a hatch on the front deck (They didn't want to clutter their beautiful staining and varnishing.)so don't look for guidance on laying out your deck rigging.

This is by far the most complete reference I've seen on this type of boat construction.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Kayaks You Can Build... IF....., June 9, 2006

By	Lynda Sanders (Lumberton, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The title of this book implies that you will know how to build a plywood kayak after reading it. However; it only tells you how to proceed after buying a prefabricated kit from one of three suppliers. (One of which was founded by one of the authors)
Nowhere does it give you the dimensions you need to start from scratch and build your own. If you have lots of money and don't mind buying a kit, this book is an excellent reference. But for builders on a budget like myself, I don't recommend buying this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, misleading title, November 7, 2006

By	M. Ziebell (prescott, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I wish I had had this book the first time I built a stitch-and-glue boat. Loads of really good advice and neat tricks. I'm often approached by people after they've seem my boats asking me for advice. This is now the book I'll recommend first to someone who wants to build a kit. As another reviewer noted, this book is really for someone who plans to build from a kit, not from scratch. If its your first time building, I recommend you follow the author's advice and go with a kit - building from scratch, while exciting, is tough the first time around (unless, perhaps, you're a experienced woodworker). I've seen too many scratch built boats that ended up costing about the same as a quality kit - and looked like crap to boot.