Black Dog Kayaks

Black Dog Kayaks To Offer Plans

2009-12-21T22:47:00.000-08:00

As noted in November, due to a continuing health problem with Mark, our owner/shop guy, we had to suspend the production of our kayak kits.

In order to continue to make Black Dog Kayaks available to the public, we will be releasing our kayak designs as complete plans, rather than kits.

Each set of plans will include complete instructions, including detailed cutting instructions, a builder's manual, full size miter templates and full size frame templates.

We will be releasing the plans for the Greenland Style Kayak in January and will continue to release plans for our various designs over the course of the next year.

Kits On Hold

2009-11-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

NOTICE: Due to a continuing health issue, we are placing sales of all of our kayak kits on hold until further notice. The health issue is not wood shop related, but it is preventing Mark from working in the shop.

PLEASE NOTE: All current orders will be filled.

We are still taking orders for accessories.

Mark Hospitalized

2008-12-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that Mark was hospitalized on Saturday night with a heart issue. He stayed overnight and has returned home and is recovering. It wasn't a heart attack, so he will be back in the shop soon.

There will, however, be a one week delay on orders.

Thanks for your understanding!

Joel

Just in time for the building season - New Skins!

2008-10-19T23:38:00.001-07:00

Jeff's Greenland Style Kayak by Black Dog Kayaks skinned in Ballistic Nylon with

optional Black Dog Kayaks Deck Rigging Kit

Builders have voiced concerns with the vinyl coated polyester skin, suggesting that it's too difficult for a beginning builder to work with and get a wrinkle free finish. Well, we listened to you, and have changed our kayak skin over to 850 denier ballistic nylon coated with a two part urethane. The new fabric is an old favorite with traditional builders and has been proven over time to be very durable and easy to use. Our ballistic nylon is fully heat shrinkable, can be dyed in the color of your choice using an acid dye, or left white for a translucent finish after coating with urethane.

Jeff's Albatross 14 (tan) skinned with PVC and his Black Dog Greenland Style Kayak (blue) skinned with Ballistic Nylon

No sewing is required. The skin is draped over the kayak hull, stretched, and stapled at the sheer line. The frame is then turned over and the skin is applied to the deck using the same method. This is followed by heat shrinking using an iron or a heat gun. The two part urethane is then mixed and applied to the skin and left to cure. The urethane seals any holes left by staples and provides a watertight seal and bond between the deck and the hull.

Skin On Frame Repair Kits

2008-08-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

A repair kit is a must-have item in the gear of any kayaker, even moreso for anyone who paddles a skinboat. And it's useful for repairing more than just your kayak! Most of the items in the repair kit can also be used for other purposes, such as repairing a wetsuit or drysuit, sewing a button back on your shorts, attaching items to your PFD or your kayak, and so forth.

What's in my repair kit?

Leatherman Multi-Tool - This is a great tool for doing everything from cutting line to pulling needles through fabric with the needle-nose pliers. It also works as a makeshift handle for the camp cookpot.

Duct Tape - Useful for temporarily patching holes in the kayak skin, taping broken gear back together, etc. It can also be used for First Aid purposes, closing up cuts, securing a splint, etc.

Parachute Cord - Available from Army Surplus Stores, 550 cord is another repair kit item that has as many uses as you can think up for it. It can be used to lash items to your PFD or to your kayak, to splint broken kayak stringers or ribs, or, "gut" it, i.e., cut the ends off, pull out the lighter weight cords inside, and use them to sew up holes in the kayak skin.

Sewing Kit - How are you going to sew a hole closed if you don't have a sewing kit? Also useful for repairing tents, sleeping bags, clothing, tarps, etc. Forget the lightweight needles normally included with a sewing kit. Buy large canvas/leatherworking needles, both straight and curved and some nylon or polyester upholstery thread. Avoid cotton covered nylon or polyester. Use thread that's rated for outdoor/UV resistance.

Lighter - Start a campfire, burn the ends of threads or cord to avoid fraying, etc.

Seal Cement - Neoprene contact cement is technically not a kayak repair item, but if you blow a seam on your wetsuit or your neoprene booties, you'll be glad you have it.

GOOP - From the makers of Shoe Goo, Amazing GOOP is useful for gluing patches over holes in the hull, or, if the hole is small enough, glob some GOOP over top of the hole and you're good to go. It cures quickly, so, if you make your repair before breakfast, by the time you're packing up, it should be ready to go.

Fabric Patches - I carry scraps left over from skinning the kayak. Use GOOP to secure them over larger holes. If you paddle a fiberglass kayak, you may want to include strips of fiberglass tape.

Zip Ties - Who knows? Zip ties are useful for all kinds of things, such as splinting broken stringers or ribs in the kayak hull or tying your garbage bag shut.

5-minute Epoxy - A double tube of epoxy is small, resealable, and handy for more permanent repairs, assuming that you have the time to do them. If a stringer breaks, epoxy the break and back it up with a piece of wood epoxied on as a backing block. Secure it with zip ties until it cures. If you paddle a hard shell kayak, 5-minute epoxy can be used to fix cracks and holes.

There are a number of other items that you could include, but many of those can be found lying around your campsite. E.g., before you apply epoxy to a fiberglass repair, or GOOP to a skin repair, you should sand the area to give the repair better adhesion. No sandpaper? A piece of wood and some beach sand works to rough up an area. Sprinkle sand on it and rub it down with the piece of wood.

When putting your kit together, try to imagine what could go wrong and think of how you would go about fixing it. Think of multiple uses for the items you have and think light and small. I like to use a Sharpie to write the contents of the repair kit on the outside of the drybag.

Finally, keep the repair kit in a place where it is easily reached for yourself or for others. If the rest of your group hasn't spent as much time preparing for eventualities you may be the hero of the day!

The Apostle Islands

2008-08-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

We were recently in the Apostle Islands in Northern Wisconsin testing kayak protoypes and miscellaneous gear. We ended up paddling over forty miles in four days, camped on four islands, dodged two thunderstorms, and generally had a great time paddling and finding out what the Madeline 16 could do on tour.

You can find the whole story and a lot of photos on our Bulletin Board.

The Advantage of Proper Flotation

2008-05-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

I took two skin-on-frame kayaks to the beach today, one with skin and one without skin. The one with skin had no extra flotation. The skinless kayak had flotation bags fore and aft.

Here, the Madeline 16 floats on a nice, even keel when she's empty.

But, fill her up with water and things change. The only thing preventing Cleopatra's Needle here was the bottom of the Lake holding the stern in place.

Now, here is the skinless Abatross 14, no skin, but full flotation.

And, even with a 245 pound paddler on board, she floats level in calm water.

The skinless kayak needed some bracing occasionally, but I was able to paddle it away and back to the beach.

I would liked to have tried the skinless kayak with a sea sock and a spray skirt as well, but, as you can see, I didn't have the coaming installed on the Albatross. I think the spray skirt would have held a lot of air in place inside the sea sock, though, which would have provided additional flotation.

Lesson learned: If you're not going to use a sea sock, you need to have flotation bags if you are going to paddle on open water with your skin-on-frame kayak. Ideally, you should have both flotation and a sea sock.

The first time I ever capsized my kayak I had no spray skirt and no float bags. I did a sculling stroke, the paddle dove, and pulled the kayak over with it, flooding the entire thing. That was before I knew even how to do a self-rescue, much less dewater the kayak. I swam it to shore and hauled the heavy kayak out of the water so I could empty it.

You need to have flotation, and, ideally, it should be backed up with a sea sock.

You can find video of the test here:

How To Float Your Camera

2008-05-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

Your Camera, your GPS, even sunglasses, have something in common - most of them sink when you drop them in the water. When I was in college I got a very nice Walkman after I saw a kid drop it in about twenty feet of water. I went home and picked up my snorkeling gear and dove after it. The kid was long gone, but I saved the Walkman.

So, the waterproof camera may be able to survive a dunking if you drop it in the water, but unless you can dive after it, waterproof won't matter. It's an easy problem to solve, though. A neoprene glasses strap, available for about two bucks from Wal-Mart, will easily float your ultralight eyeglasses or plastic sunglasses.

And, a piece of closed cell foam will provide plenty of flotation for your camera or GPS.

The closed cell foam is attached to the tripod mount of the camera, where it's out of the way. I should add a washer to the thumb screw to make sure it doesn't pull through the foam.

You may also be able to use a large sized floating foam key chain.

Disclaimer: You should test the flotation in a controlled environment before you drop your gear in open water.

Black Dog Flotation Bags!

2008-05-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

Black Dog Kayaks Flotation Bags add safety and storage space to your Black Dog Kayak. Flotation bags displace water, meaning that if you swamp your kayak, you'll have gallons less to pump out. We can't stress enough how important it is to have proper flotation in a kayak, which is why we're happy to be offering these flotation bags made exclusively for our kayaks by Spirit Line. The flotation bags are sold in pairs, front and rear and can be ordered from our Safety page.

Made for Black Dog Kayaks by Spirit Line, the rear flotation bag is constructed with a unique 3 ply material. The design allows you to store your gear in one compartment and inflate the other compartment for flotation. Each compartment is the full size of the bag. Hidden solid plastic inserts gives an incredible seal for a submersible seal in the gear chamber. The bow flotation bag is smaller in size and is made with the same 3 ply material as the rear flotation/storage bag. Flotation Bags are $89.99/pair, or, $55 for the Gear Bag, $45 for the front flotation bag (air only). Watch for pics of the flotation bags installed in our kayaks soon.

CNC Precision Cut Parts

2008-04-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

We're happy to be able to announce that the plywood frame components for the Greenland Style Kayak are being produced with a CNC machine (computer numerical control). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNC Beside alleviating some of the work load in our shop, the most desirable benefit to process is that a CNC machine quite simply can produce parts more perfectly than can be made by hand.

The bottom line is that the kits are produced more quickly, so that we can get them into your hands faster!

Ice Paddling on Lake Superior

2008-04-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

To see more photos visit our Forum

We went out paddling in the ice again last week, April 21st.

Temps were in the 60's, the sun was shining, and the ice was falling.

We went south of Marquette, launched off of South Beach and paddled to the beach near the Michigan Welcome Center. Swells were one to two feet high and were reflecting off of the ice. My babysitter, Don, paddled right up along the ice foot for a while. I stayed off between twenty and one hundred yards, depending on what the waves were doing. The waves were reflecting off of the ice and coming back at the same height they went in. There was a lot of floating ice too. Sometimes it felt like we were padlding through a Margarita or a Slurpee.

I did grab a nice big piece of floating ice, very clear, to take home and use for recreational purposes. The clear ice is good if you get thirsty. The pieces have spines and other shapes sticking up, and you can just break a piece off of the top and chew on it.

The Carbon/Kevlar paddle worked very well. The hard finish was especially nice when fending off the big ice bergs floating around us.

Greenland Kayak Workshop

2008-01-16T10:15:00.000-08:00

Build your own kayak!

Join Great Lakes Kayak and The Northwest Passage as we welcome a unique boat building opportunity presented by Black Dog Kayaks.

Designed along the lines of the traditional Greenland style kayak, with a low rear deck, hard chines, and a shallow-V hull, our low volume kayak is just the ticket for the boat builder who wants an easy-to-build, traditional looking kayak. This boat building oportunity will see you assemble the frame, sand and finish/waterproof the frame and conclude skinning under the watchful eye of a professional boat builder and designer. The result a Greenland style kayak that is a true performer - fast, lightweight, and easy to roll.

Your Greenland Style Kayak kit includes a builders guide, pre-cut and notched marine plywood frames, cedar stringers, cockpit touring ring, skinning fabric, web trim, a countersink bit and waterproof glue.

- 2008 Price: Full package: $1,100, base package: $929
- Location: Great Lakes Kayak, Lake Bluff, IL

Details
CLASS DATES (2008) - March 28-30
CLASS TIMES - All day Friday - Sunday
STATUS - OPEN Limited space

Activities: 3 day instructional session in skin-on-frame boat building.
All participants will depart with their own Greenland style kayak.
Dates: March 28-30, 2008 (All day Friday through Sunday)
2008 Price: $1,100 Full Package includes catered lunch, t-shirt, video DVD of weekend.
Base Package: $929 (boat only)
Location: Great Lakes Kayak, Lake Bluff, IL
Included in base package: One individual Greenland kayak kit, instructor, work space, equipment storage and for course duration, coffee, tea, hot water.
Full package includes: All the above and catered lunch(3 days), sponsor T-shirt, video DVD of weekend.
Not included: Transportation, drill/screwgun, a phillips screwdriver, clamps, and tape measure. Outing cancellaton insurance (please review your cancellation policy for full details) and instructor gratuity.
Suggested tools: sanding block or belt sander

Of Helmets and Reflective Tape

2007-12-25T17:29:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows that you should add reflective tape to your gear and to your equipment to make it easier for other boaters to see you and for the Coasties to rescue you.

One of my Christmas presents that I received was a Pro-Tec helmet. Of course, I wanted to add reflective tape, but I didn't want to end up looking like a safety dork or like a Coast Guard Wannabe. So, I picked up some black reflective engineer's tape. In normal light, the tape looks like black electrical tpe. But, when you shine a light on it, it reflects back a bright white.

Definitely a safety dork. Note that this pic was taken with a flash, with no tape on the helmet.

Safety Dork in profile.

Black Engineer's tape applied, photo taken without a flash:

Same helmet, same black tape, only this time taken with a flash:

Note that you can get Engineer's tape in a number of different colors, so you add reflective safety tape to your helmet without fear of looking like a safety dork.

Safety First

2007-11-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

Since we went down to Chicago in October for the Geneva Kayak KayakFest, we've been following the Chicago kayaking scene. Through links to Chicago area newspapers we received yet another grim reminder that our sport of choice can kill. A local man on his first paddle, in his first kayak, found that out the hard way at the end of October when he disappeared in Lake Michigan. His kayak and his PFD were found, but he was not.

Kayaking is an easy sport to get into. Naturally, we at Black Dog Kayaks encourage everyone to take up the sport, whether they buy one of our kits or buy another kayak. But we also cannot underscore enough the necessity of having the proper safety equipment and the training to use it.

No matter what your skill level, you can have an accident. The difference between the accident becoming a tragedy or just a thrilling campfire story is often dependent on prior preparation.

One more thing before I quit preaching at you - wear your PFD!

CASKA Safety Page

Sea Kayaking Safety & Rescue

Sea Socks

2007-11-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

The Black Dog SeaSock is made from durable, waterproof, urethane coated packcloth. Features include sewn and taped seams and frame straps to keep the fabric off of your legs.

Whether you paddle a Skin On Frame or a rigid hull, the Black Dog Sea Sock also helps to keep your kayak clean. After a day of paddling, simply remove the sea sock, turn it inside out, and rinse it off. Sand and dirt stay in the sock, instead of in your kayak!

$99.99 plus shipping.

The Black Dog Sea Sock in its stock form fits cockpit coamings up to 34 inches long and 21 inches wide.

If you need a custom size, Contact Us and we will make a custom sea sock that fits your coaming at no extra charge! Other colors may be available, just ask.

Geneva Kayak October KayakFest

2007-10-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

ChicagoMark and I attended classes at the KayakFest at Geneva Kayak today, beginning at 7am for their Saturday morning Kayak & Coffee paddle. They paddle a couple of miles up the river, have some coffee, then paddle back to Geneva Kayak. It was a good time. I met Bill from the QajaqUSA BBS, Mike, Dave and Tom, and several other enthusiastic paddling java junkies.

Then it was back to Geneva Kayak for classes at 10am. The first class we attended was on the water, Weird Strokes, taught by Jim T., a multiple whitewater kayak national champion and a judge at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA. This guy was just incredible on the water. He would drop his paddle in the water, do whatever it was he had to do, then somehow get the kayak back to the paddle and casually pick it up. The first time we saw him today, he paddled up to the edge of one of the Fox River dams and shoved a large tree branch, which had been hung up on the edge of the dam, over the edge.

Our next class was Kayak Safety, with Paul R., who is somewhat famous for his attempted crossing of Lake Michigan in 2006. I'll let you find the news story yourself. He and his paddling buddy completed the crossing earlier this year. It was a very informative class from a guy who had been there and back.

The next class, Stroke Analysis, was attended by ChicagoMark while I played hooky from the Dryland Rolling class. After that I hopped back onto the water to get ready for the Forward Stroke class, also taught by Jim.

Again, I can't say enough about this guy. He's an iron man. He was on the water for hours at a time teaching classes. During the class, the wind began blowing upstream, raising waves up to one foot and actually giving us some surfing pushes as we paddled upstream. Paul gave us some good tips and analysis on our forward stroke on the way back. Navigation Class with Chris followed that. We learned how to read charts and to triangulate our position using two compass readings and your chart.

Through the window, I noticed a young couple checking out the Greenland Style Kayak. I hoped that they wouldn't leave before the class ended. After class, I went out to find that it was a guy with whom I'd been emailing over the past weeks about our kayaks. We had some great kayak talk, then I had to run to the next class, Winter Paddling.

In Winter Paddling, Ryan showed us all the gear needed for winter paddling and gave us a lot of good tips on paddling in the cold. Mark and I had to leave after the last class, but everyone else enjoyed a catered barbecue dinner.

We had a great time at KayakFest. Thanks to Ryan and all of the instructors for providing us with great, FREE instruction.

New Greenland T-shirts

2007-09-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

We've added some new t-shirts to our Cafepress site to mark the shipping of our Greenland Style Kayak.

Greenland Style T-Shirts

2007-08-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

Just added to the Catalog.

The Black Dog Backband is a great choice for any Black Dog kayak, as well as for traditional skin on frame kayaks. Black, waterproof 430 denier nylon, with polypropylene webbing, and velcro adjustment. Shock cords hook onto the frames or stringers of skin on frame kayaks to provide tension on the backband to keep it in place. The low profile fits just above the hips and, combined with the soft construction, permits layback rolls while still providing a positive lock for the paddler to push against while paddling.

Madeline 16

2007-07-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

We had a great day today out on Lake Superior. No, we didn't take an epic journey. Instead, my family and some friends went to the beach with the Madeline 16 and the Greenland Style Kayak.
My family had all been paddling for the past year. Of our friends, one had never even sat in a kayak before and the other, their 16 year old son, had only been paddling once before. These two guys hopped in the Madeline 16 and loved it.

I spent the afternoon paddling around in the Greenland, practicing bracing, and racing with my 10 year old son, paddling the Madeline. I love how responsive the Greenland is to my movements. This could become my favorite, and, judging by the response of people that I meet at the beach, they like it too.

I'm still getting used to the Greenland and still feel like I'm just getting the hang of it. Before we left the beach, I took my old favorite girl, Madeline, for a spin. I am so at home in this kayak that I don't think that I'll ever get tired of paddling it. When I want a leisurely paddle, it fits the bill. When the weather gets rough and I get nervous, Madeline takes it in stride. If I want speed, Madeline keeps an even keel and stays rock solid when I get on the stick.

I'm currently working on the second prototype of Madeline, addressing the few things that need to be improved. The second edition is a bit more streamlined at the bow, with a slightly lower profile, following the lead of our Tandem/Triple Cerberus 21, which grew out of the original Madeline 16.

I can't wait to get this kayak on the market. It's going to be such an asset to the field of touring kayaks that are available. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced paddler, when you build one and paddle it, I know that you are going to love her as much as I do.

Joel

New News

2007-07-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

The blog database on our server went away a couple of days ago, so, rather than wrestling with WordPress again, trying to get it reset, I decided to start posting our news here at blogspot.

Check back for news.