Alexandra - Wavelength Paddling Magazine

Arctic Kayaks
Our modern home-made skin boats of
canvas and synthetic nylon reflect a
long and illustrious past of Inuit ingenuity
and survival from Siberia to Eastern
Greenland. Most archeologists suggest the
storied past of these clever hunting boats
dates back as far as 2000 years. Unfortunately
the kayaks that survive today only
record a very small portion of the past.
Most of those preserved in museums are
from the 19th and 20th century.
Different regions produced kayaks that
were remarkably different, to suit climate,
sea conditions and hunting techniques.
Inland kayaks of the Caribou Inuit were
designed for speed to catch evading Caribou,
while the sea mammal hunting kayaks
such as Greenland boats were developed
for stealth approaches.
Today the modern day sea kayak is
equipped with options that Inuit cultures
of the past could not even have imagined.
Traditional hunting tools like bladder
darts, throwing sticks, lances, and harpoons
have made way for more sophisticated
equipment like the GPS, VHF marine
radio and other modern day recreational
gadgets.
But it’s difficult to match the aesthetic
quality and performance of seal and sea
lion skin (the latter being the favorite of
the Aleut’s Baidarka). In Greenland, the
Harp seal was the preferred covering but
was not always available. The Bearded
seal common in many Alaskan kayaks offered
special qualities of durability for
open water, but often shrunk and stiffened
when it dried. The hooded seal was
adopted as well but the large and deep
hair follicles created some seepage and it
could become too flexible when sodden
with water. Whale skin was introduced but
was found too permeable and did not last
while walrus was claimed to be unable to
hold waterproofing oil long enough.
Long before imperial and metric measurement
systems, Inuit people used their
The interior of a skin boat
2001 FEBRUARY • MARCH WaveLength
Wendell sculpts the frame of his latest skin boat
own specific body parts to measure linear
distances for kayak building to ensure
a good fit.
This anthropometrical
system
worked quite well
and results varied
from region to region
with different
methods. Today
we have contemporary
kayak
designs of all
shapes and sizes
and the value of
Wendell Phillips
choosing the right fit is sometimes underestimated.
Building your own skin on
frame kayak to meet your personal dimen-
Wendell executes a roll with his Greenland paddle
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