A Big Baidarka
Building baidarkas in the Aleutians
Overhauling a baidarka
Overhauling A Big Baidarka
This baidarka is a fairly faithful replica of the Atka baidarka in the Phoebe Hearst Museum at the University of California, Berkeley. The only difference is that it is stretched by 14 inches in length and has had its beam increased to 22 inches. This is the second kayak I ever built, my first being a 21 inch Greenland kayak whose lack of stability I found intimidating. Hence I added an extra inch of beam to this boat. All in all, this boat had served me well for 17 years before I did an overhaul on it. The overhaul was actually was fairly minor, consisting mainly of reducing the diameter of the hull stringers which were a little more beefy than they needed to be, replacing a few lashings and of rebuilding the nose of the boat, part of which had broken off.
Sporting a new skin the just overhauled baidarka awaits a few coats of varnish.
Construction
The major deviation from standard baidarka construction in this boat was the use of flat ribs spaced 6 inches on center rather than the traditional round ribs spaced 4 inches on center. All other features followed traditional construction. The frame was stained with red ochre and varnished. The original skin was cotton which during the overhaul of the boat after 17 years of use I replaced with nylon. Gunwales, hull stringers and keelson were all made of red cedar and held up remarkably well over the years.
After seventeen years of faithful service, most of the frame was intact with little damage, except for the nose which needed some reconstructive surgery.
Inside the hull looking aft. Other than getting a new coat of varnish, all components are original. Also visible here is the keelson to rib lashing which was done Greenland style with a continuous lashing going through holes drilled in the keelson. In Aleut style lashing the lashing runs around the keelson.
Performance
This boat paddles quite nicely and moves along well. It is quite roomy and has plenty of space for gear, enough space in fact for a camping trip of more than a few days. As a matter of fact, the boat gets more comfortable loaded down, as I think was the case with most later baidarkas. Empty it sits fairly high in th water, and its total length of 18.5 feet makes it quite an adventuresome boat in steep waves. When cresting a wave, the long bow moves over the top of the wave and thrusts headlong into the air until gravity does its work and pulls it down, resulting in a big splash with water thrown off to both sides. The effect is much like that of a breaching whale though not quite as dramatic or loud.
A view of the characteristically shapely hull of the baidarka with its new skin.
My brother giving the overhauled baidarka a try. The boat has plenty capacity and rides high in the water without a payload.