King Island Kayak
A King Island Kayak
For years I have ignored the kayaks of Alaska's Bering Sea shore under the impression that they were hopelessly large, bulky, slow and unwieldly. But recently, I have become interested in the idea of shorter boats, primarily because I now live on San Francisco bay which has short wind driven waves pretty much every afternoon in the summer. I had already built a short 14 foot baidarka. This is a nice boat, but a little too narrow in the stern for someone my weight. When this boat is up to speed, the stern wave rises almost to the gunwales. This could no doubt be corrected by widening the stern, but rather than build another version of that boat, I thought I would try the King Island solution to a shorter boat.
The King Island solution to a shorter boat is to give it a 24 inch beam and to carry the width as far toward both ends as possible before tapering off. The paddler of this boat is also placed squarely in the middle between the bow and stern so that trim at speed is not increased disproportionately in the bow region. The drawing above is from the David Zimmerly website. My boat was based on a drawing by John Heath, but the general dimensions are similar.
Propulsion
The King Island kayak can be propelled with either a single bladed or double bladed paddle. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of the double bladed paddle is that you can make the kayak go faster with it than with a single bladed paddle. Its disadvantage is that you need to hold it high up in a fatiguing position because of the high deck. The single bladed paddle is less fatiguing but slower because you either have to switch back and forth between sides or end each stroke with a rudder stroke. Neither of the paddles pictured above can be identified strictly as King Island Paddles. The single bladed paddle is a replica of a paddle identified as a Bering Strait paddle in the Chicago Field Museum. The double bladed paddle is a replica of a Bristol Bay paddle but at 103 inches is designed for a boat with a similarly high deck as that of the King Island boat.
Performance
The King Island boat moves through the water surprisingly well given its beam and 15 foot length. With the double bladed paddle, it will cruise at a brisk 5mph and sprint up to 5.5mph. With the single bladed paddle, it will do a comfortable 3mph. The reason for the slower speed with the single blade is that you either have to switch the paddle back and forth from side to side which costs you time or if paddling on one side only, you have to end each propulsion stroke with a rudder stroke which does not add forward propulsion but corrects the direction of the boat. You can actually go faster than 3 mph with a single bladed paddle, but 3mph is a very easy, low effort and quiet sort of paddling you might use to sneak up on game. Paddling with a single blade is splashy and therefore noisy, something to use to accelerate or get somehere fast, but not something to sneak up on game with.
The original of the Bering Strait single bladed paddle that I copied had the tee handle offset at about 10 degrees counterclockwise. This offset would make it easier to do the rudder stroke on the right side. It would also make it more difficult to do the rudder stroke on the left side. So the implication seems to be that a paddle with an offset handle would be used more on one side of the boat than the other. But on the video that David Zimmerly made for the exhibition that went along with his Qajaq book, he has included an historical clip of a paddler chugging along with a double bladed paddle at a good clip, two strokes on one side, then two strokes on the other.
As for the 24 inch beam of the King Island kayak, that might seem to give it quite a bit of hull resistance. But if you look at the picture above of the boat in the water, you will note that the water only comes up to the top stringer at which point the hull is a good deal narrower than 24 inches.
This back view of the hull shows the rounded profile of the hull, a quite efficient form for moving through the water.
Here is a rear view of an actual King Island hull. Note that the hull shape is quite a bit more parabolic than on my replica and in the back almost vee shaped. This particular boat may have had an even narrower waterline than my boat.
Note: this photo and the one following are from David Zimmerly's website.
Here is another view of a traditional frame. Note how the ribs come out of the gunwales almost straight with curve only toward the bottom. My next replica will be more like this boat with a narrower more vee like bottom. The boat should sit a little lower in the water, given this shape, but only actual construction and trial will tell how handling will be different.
Rolling and Bracing
As the picture above shows, when you are slid forward, laying the boat over till the water is right up to the cockpit is no problem. And with a paddling jacket on, you can lean the boat even further. With the paddle out to the side, you can do a static brace with the boat 90 degrees from vertical.
I don't have any pictures of myself rolling this boat yet, though I have done it. Although it would seem that rolling such a wide boat with a 24 inch beam would be difficult, it isn't. The trick for rolling this boat is to slide forward to get almost prone and then roll it. Not only does this get your center of gravity down, it also wedges you into the boat more securely. The peaked deck also helps to bring the boat around since it doesn't provide a flat surface that makes the boat stable in the inverted position.
This boat will let you do any number of Greenland style rolls as long as you slide forward first. Forward finishing rolls are more difficult, however, since you can't very well get low on the front deck with the high deck ridge.
Fit
The King Island boat is roomy like all the Bering Sea boats. It is this roominess which I perceived as a liability. It is this perception which kept me from building this kind of boat for a long time. However, in practice, the size of the King Island boat has a number of plusses. For one thing, this is a one size fits all boat. A very short paddler might have a hard time working the paddle while seated but could do so from a kneeling position.
The high deck ridge makes a very comfortable backrest. This is a boat that you can relax in. On flat water where you don't have to deal with waves, you can lean back in this boat and drift. As a matter of fact, the deck is high enough so that you can slide forward in this boat until you are prone and can then take a nap. In a Greenland boat you can take a nap, but you need to do it with the boat laying on its side and your body in the water, supported by a static brace. I believe the King Island approach is a good deal easier.
It is even possible to paddle from the sleeping position though it is hard to see where you're going.
All in all, this is a very nice boat and one that I will be building more versions of.