Yupik or Chukchi Kayak from the
Russian Far East
Replica of the Uebersee Museum's (Bremen) C.8707 of unknown provenance. This kayak is 13'3" long and 24-1/2" wide.
The Cockpit is about 3' long, and the original's cockpit was made of whalebone and was lashed to the kayak's skin with baleen. The original's skin was made from one walrus skin. This was the 200th kayak I surveyed. The lines of this kayak are published in "Kayaks of Alaska."
The completed frame.
Note the shallow bow and generous rocker. At the front of the cockpit (not including the coaming), the depth overall is 12-7/8", and it is even deeper behind the cockpit.
On the water: Portland, May 2011. My brother Don taking it out for a spin.
Note the trim-- scarcely 11' of this kayak is in the water. Initially I found it to be very squirrely in terms of holding a heading-- I had thought to ballast it forward to immerse more of the keelson, but soon found that it was best to ballast aft and sit aft in the long cockpit. Its a very comfortable ride and quite stable; the hull could no doubt accommodate 400# easy. Its a little too nimble with just my 140# in it, but it might make a great overnighter with gear-weight.