Last of 2014 and beginning of 2015....

Finally, after one of the toughest years ever, workwise, I found a little vacant time in late December. Time to relax.. or maybe do something fun? What I did was to start building two new kayaks with my employee Odd Erik. These were to be "just" simple, beautiful, and highly functional kayaks. One greenland style kayak meant for rolling, mostly. And one Iqyax for touring and pretty much everything else.

After some hours of work, they were finished this Friday, and ready to launch! The Greenlander is 520 cm. long and 49 cm. wide. The weight, including sea sock, rigging and seat mattress was just below 15 kg. The Iqyax became 517 cm. long, 50 cm. wide and just below 18 kg. of weight, everything included.

The weather was fine with a glimpse of sun and 4 degrees below zero. water temperature is around 2-3 degrees above zero, which makes rolling a bit complicated, even with a tuilik on.

The kayaks turned out amazing in their very different ways: The qajaq was fast, easy to maneuver and rolled like a dream. I had difficulty with some of the tough rolls, but I don't blame the kayak. I haven't rolled for a long time, and I still have a bit of stiffness and pain in my back from overworking in 2014. The Ixyaq amazed me the most! It's not only the camera angle - it is VERY fast. I'm really looking forward to cruise in this one next week.

I took some extra time to make these fancy sea socks. The invention is my own, a couple of years old, but I haven't really used it on a lot of kayaks. Now I just decided to do it, and overcome the difficulties of trying something different. The system is simple - a router has made a slot in the top of the coaming. The edge of the sea sock is made same thickness as the slot. The edge goes into the coaming, and you have a beautiful looking and most functional sea sock!

Happy 2015 everyone! I hope to be on the water a LOT!