My first SOF workshop in Israel. or Dreams do come true

Avital beginning to get the forms ready for our workshop

Idit and Avital cutting the forms

many discussions regarding the dimensions of our kayaks, how wide to make them and  should we go on diet first

Girls having fun 

We decided to make a slightly larger cockpit for easier entry and exit

We bought cedar beams and did all the cutting ourselves with the generous help of Micha and his wonderful home shop

Its not so easy to cut a huge cedar log into the right size beams for a kayak

Now was the right time to take off the old canvass skin from my first SOF and expose the beautiful frame. this would also be used as an example of what we were aiming for

So after a few weeks of planning, cutting , organising and getting ready we eventually started our workshop. It was to be one full week of intensive work. We all took  a weeks vacation from our regular lives and met at 7am every day for a full day of kayak building

Rib mortices were cut with a router after the gunwales were measured

each mortise was checked for the rib size

we all helped each other

and everyone learned to use new tools

Yoram decided to build a Bairdarka

the rest of us all chose the Greenland kayak as described in Cunninghams book 

heres Avital cutting the kerf to get the ends of the gunwales together

Eyal reading up on the next step

Danny started out building a Baidarka as well but then changed to a Greenland kayak

when the gunwales are spread you can begin to see what your kayak will look like

We used my old SOF as a reference for  size , 

Everybody worked together and we all helped each other

Noam is pegging his deck beams

making sure the kayak is straight

Yoram steaming ahead on his bardaika

lashing the gunwales together was a lot of fun too

this kayak has a lot more complicated parts

Innovation and transference of tools from the operating room  to the workshop.That`s what happens when a doctor builds a kayak

Yossi trying the fit of his Masik

look how happy everyone is

Adding the stern and bow plates

now thats a nice joint

beginning to get the ribs in place

Ginady works very precisely

and this is the result

Yosi only cut 2 fingers, 

decks almost finished

Yosi adding stern stringers

At weeks end we just about finished the decks

Noam thinking about his kayak.
 

Organizing a kayak building workshop for 10 people is a huge undertaking. From the initial idea, getting the people , ordering all the materials and coordinating everything takes a lot of cooperation. We were lucky to have an exceptional group, everybody pulling together and helping each other. We managed to finish the decks and in the near future working on weekends we will finish our kayaks. It was a fantastic week and a great experience for everybody who took part.
We worked mostly from Robert  Morris`s book, building  Skin on frame boats, as well as from Christopher  Cunninghams  Building the Greenland  kayak.