Mid winter activities
As for many others, the covid pandemic gives some difficult challenges. One of my challenges is uncertainty about work, and the constant pushing tasks ahead of me. Giving classes is about half the work done in my business, and that can't be done i times like these. So what else can I do then? It has, after all been a pretty productive winter, although I haven't really been in the mood for writing about my activities. One of the beautiful thing that I CAN do is kayak building:
These beauties above are built either on demand for customers, or it is my own projects, new or old. Some will hopefully be sold during springtime.
Paddle making is another great thing, and I constantly produce and ship paddles all over the world. I have shipped to Germany, England, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, and a huge bunch for my dealer in Denmark so far this year. The Greenland styles are still the main sell object in different variations. But the Aleut style paddle of my making is sure getting popular too - more and more so.
Linseed oil is still the best :)
Aleut and Greenland - a nice pair bound for Italy next week.
Another big project has been building a tools and materials section into my web shop. It is only in the very beginning phase. I do have some great materials to sell, the only problem being lack of good DIY instructions. Which led to a lot of film making earlier this winter, with following testing, altering and adjusting, and finally some very good products in my web shop and Youtube channel, suitable for re skinning your old kayak, or skinning a new one.
Please visit my web shop and take a look at the brand new do-it-yourself kayak skinning kit. Skinning your old kayak could be a great winter project, and a lot of people has already taken the challenge with great results.
I just got 3 old kayaks from a friend. They were built in one of my very first classes 25 years ago. They are here to be re-skinned next week, and hopefully get lighter and better for the next 25 years to come.
Still good-looking after many years of use.
The cold weather has been really intense for the last month, or since the end of December. Outside we generally have below -15 during the day and down to -20 in the night. It is hard to heat a 150 year old building with 5 meter from floor to ceiling. So working has been limited to lots of clothes, short work sessions and frequent breaks, doing office tasks in my warm office.
Jannie took this picture today. Waters are all frozen, except for a small bit where the river is narrow. The water level is record low due to the extra intense electricity production that comes with cold weather. Most houses in Norway are heated with electricity.
