In February 2011, Maligiaq, Dubside and Wayne Horodowich stayed with me for a couple of weeks. During this time I built a custom Greenland kayak for Wayne - see previous blog post. Concurrently, Maligiaq, with some assistance from Dubside and myself, built a competition Rolling Kayak to be used during the filming of Wayne's University of Sea Kayaking (USK) instructional Greenland style rolling videos at the University of Santa Barbara's pool. I highly recommend purchasing these two DVD's featuring Maligiaq and Dubside, along with many examples of my kayaks and paddles by Shaman Kayaks used throughout. I feel they are the finest instructional DVD's on this subject, with some incredible underwater footage, allowing the sometimes difficult to explain rolling maneuvers easier to understand.

It was a flurry of activity at my shop building these 2 kayaks at breakneck speed, along with Wayne filming, ,interviewing, and editing in the evenings. See the progression of Maligiaq's roller below:


Maligiaq has temporarily assembled his gunwhales and is getting a feel of the rolling kayak's lines.


Drywall screws?!! Sure, for a competition-only rolling kayak, why not. It saves time too. For a more authentically constructed and more durable kayak, hardwood dowels are much better. I have, although, adapted this technique to make assembling a frame faster and easier by screwing the deck beams to the gunwhale in the same hole locations that would be drilled later to accommodate the dowels anyway!


In this photo, Dubside and Maligiaq survey the lines of the partially assembled frame as Wayne pans a shot of this scene for his videos...


The rolling kayak's rocker is clearly evident here as she sits frame upside down. Somehow I think there should be a sign on the back of that chair that says, "Dubside" :-)


Dubside and Maligiaq pose for a shot along side their frame as they get ready to coat it with Tung oil. Note the shape of the Masik and extreme low deck in this photo.


It was a beautiful and sunny winters day for sewing outside, but soon proved difficult to keep the nylon cover continually wet as the SoCal temperature climbed. Hard to believe for the rest of the country I'm sure!


Some final sewing under the shade of my deck roof. That's Wayne's custom Greenland kayak frame in progress I'm making alongside...


Now here's an interesting sequence showing Maligiaq's incredible flexibilty and upper body strength. He's about to do a handstand in his kayak resting between 2 saw horses. Don't try this at home!!


Excellent core strength and balance...


What the?? I'm convinced, if you can do this, you can be Greenland kayak rolling champion!


With the finished rolling kayak finally  "gooped" in my garage,  Maligiaq stands alongside his drying seal skin Tuilik. Which, BTW, had a very "interesting" smell when it thawed!! See my next post of the rolling clinic at Channel Islands Harbor held by Maligiaq and Dubside, hosted by Wayne....John

 

After the no-nonsense task of waterproofing Wayne's kayak, carving his Caribou antler toggles, attaching leather deck lines and leather back rest, it was off to Channel Islands Harbor in California to launch her during Maligiaq's and Dubside's kayaking classes held there too.


Here is Wayne with his newly delivered custom SOF Greenland kayak I built for him last February.


Some of the details surrounding his cockpit with whale and seal toggle effigies...


Leather back rest - although it really doesn't serve to support your back as much as it does to locate your behind once in the kayak, and acts as a soft bulkhead that pivots downward so you may access items stored behind you.  It's not traditional, but I've always liked the implied and visual clue it gives that says "sit here" and finishes off the cockpit...


Once in the water, Wayne made sure he could lay back on his rear deck comfortably by touching his head and shoulder blades to the rear deck. Being able to do this in any kayak opens up a whole world of rolling opportunities. Maligiaq is nearby offering rolling instruction to Lee Shurie, California Kayak Friends president.


Maligiaq giving expert instruction to Wayne in his new kayak...


Thumbs up all the way as a Peter O'Sullivan, friend and past customer looks on.  See my next blog that will feature Maligiaq and Dubside as they build a rolling kayak at my shop during the same period I was building Wayne's custom kayak. Wayne shot footage of my build, Maligiaq's, and the kayak clinic he and Dubside held for the excellent newly released DVD set "Greenland Rolling with Maligiaq and Dubside" parts 1 and 2, of which Shaman Kayaks is the main sponsor. This outstanding series can be purchased through Wayne at his site www.useakayak.org

 

After spending the whole month of July in Alaska teaching Aleut youth how to build their traditional Baidarka, or Igyaq, during the tribe's "Culture Camps", I thought I would resume sharing the building of Wayne Horodowich's custom Shaman kayaks Greenland kayak completed last February.


Here I have wet and tacked the nylon cloth in place, and brought the two sides together using a zig-zag lacing stitch. Underneath the lacing you can see the thin wood batten I use as a sewing guide.


The remaining cloth is gathered together, a center seam with an over lapping stitch is formed.


I take care sewing a clean, inner attachment of the cloth to the coaming so that it has a neat appearance.


Wayne's entry dimension checked...


Low Iserfik for Wayne...


Interior view looking forward.


Ready to transport out of the cold and into....


the house! It barely fit. Putting the kayak in the house warmed it and readied it for waterproofing. The next post will show the finished kayak with leather back rest, leather deck lines, and bone toggles. See you soon!

 

While Maligiaq and Dubside were busy building Maligiaq's rolling kayak, I was busy working out the task of establishing the depth of Wayne Horodowich's skin-on-frame kayak at the Masik and Iserfik locations. Because of Wayne's 6' 6" height and 235lbs weight, it was a challenge fitting someone of this size properly. I also traced Wayne's feet (wearing booties) onto cardboard so that I could verify that he had enough room where they would be positioned. It is not uncommon to see the tips of a paddlers toes poking against the fore deck skin and his knees too. It is also very typical to see their heels and butt impression when they roll!!



Here is a good view of how important it can be to make sure the top of the coaming rim clears your lower back. This reduced height enables the paddler to perform lay-back rolls more easily and with more comfort.



Wayne is demonstrating how easily he can lay back and touch his shoulder blades on the rear deck. - a must requirement for a good Greenland style kayak and in my opinion, for ANY kayak....



Wayne is thumbs up for a perfectly sized custom Greenland skin-on-frame kayak built by John Petersen of Shaman Kayaks. Sorry folks -  had to put that plug in there to make the search engine happy!




Wayne is ready for the "Straight Jacket" roll, or is it really the "Hoody" roll!



See you soon with the covering of  Wayne's frame - John and Jindi

 

With permission from my wife of course :-), Wayne Horodowich of the University of Sea Kayaking in WA., along with Maligiaq Padilla, and Dubside, stayed at our house for about 10 days this past February. During this time,  Maligiaq with some assistance from Dubside and myself, made a "Rolling" competition kayak in record time. Wayne filmed some of the process, and scheduled Greenland style kayaking skills clinics throughout the month also while they were in SoCal. Wayne had ordered a custom SOF from me, that he hoped he could take back with him up to WA at the end of the month. Wayne, at 6' 6", size 14 shoe and 230lbs, making a low volume, low rear deck kayak with enough lead in room for his legs to enter the cockpit, etc., etc., was going to be a challenge for me to say the least! The weather during that time wasn't typical of sunny SoCal either! Long story short, the Rolling kayak was built, clinics were conducted, and Wayne took a beautiful Shaman Kayaks skin-on-frame kayak with him up to Washington where he hopes to continue his recent passion with Greenland kayaking skills.


Here is Maligiaq Padilla - 8 time world champion of the Greenland Kayaking Competition, Dubside - Greenland style kayaker extraordinaire and Greenland Ropes expert, and Wayne Horodowich of the University of Sea Kayaking. Wayne is the former head of the University of Santa Barbara's recreational program for many years.


I built Maligiaq's and Wayne's coamings in advance before they arrived at my shop to save time...


Here are Wayne's and Maligiaq's scarfed and glued Gunwhales that I cut from Lowes, store bought clear Ponderosa Pine. Notice the scrap triangular pieces left over from cutting the Gunwhales. I'll glue and peg these together later to make their Deck Beams...

Wayne's Gunwhales clamped together back to back for shaping. If you look closely, you can see the subtle 'S' shape cut along the top of the Gunwhales. This is done so that a nice sheer line is formed when the Gunwhales are bent defining the plan view shape of the kayak...

Gunwhale scrap glued and pegged together will make the Deck Beams for both Maligiaq'a and Wayne's kayak. Look for my next blog showing more of the build process for both kayaks and some pic's of the kayaking clinics held at Channel Island Harbor.