After much discussion and due diligence, Mary decided it might be time for a new boat. Her Pungo 14 has served very well, helping her win almost every race she enters. It’s solid, stable and able to take inadvertent abuse but a drawback to the boat is that it weighs almost 60lbs. The weight hasn’t hurt the performance much, in fact it might actually help an otherwise standard poly rec kayak handle rough water very well. It just gets pretty heavy when we hoist it on top of the van or carry it 200′ down to the water (yea, I know we’ve got wheels, we just never remember to pack them). So one of the search goals was reduced weight.
The Pungo has a very open cockpit. It doesn’t feel as though you are jammed into the boat (like my Night Heron) and you can actually see your feet. This freedom was also a very important element with the next boat.
The new boat also had to be as fast if not faster and as stable. Now speed is not usually mentioned when talking about 14′ kayaks then they don’t ask Mary to do the performance reviews.
So the criteria for the new boat was:
- Roomy
- Lighter
- Fast
- Stable
- Under or just at 14′
We decided that the only way to meet all these criteria is a wooden boat which took us to Madison WI in September. Every year, Rudibaga Paddlesports hosts a Chesapeake Light Craft demo paddle. CLC brings a truck and trailer loaded with wood boats to try. We had our eye on one particular boat: the Great Auk 14, a rec-class boat with a pretty roomy cockpit. The Auk is a strip-built kayak that is a shortened version of a very popular 17′ Great Auk.
There are a number or boat kits that use 4mm Okume stitch-and-glue plywood but I wanted to stretch my skills by building a fully planked boat.
Mary took it for a paddle and really liked it. It accelerated quickly and tracked and turned very well. She also was comfortable with the cockpit. The Auk is 4″ narrower than the Pungo. This should allow her shorten her paddle and and develop a more vertical stroke.
I gave it a try and found it to be pretty good even having enough room for my feet. To do some comparison analytics, I was able to maintain 5.1 mph for 500′ on flat water with almost no breeze. And it didn’t seem that hard to maintain that speed. I don’t know what the max hull speed is for the boat but it felt a lot closer to 5 mph than the Pungo. Plus it just felt lighter. Maybe this won’t be the boat to take on the angry Mississippi but for most of our excursions, it should do just great.
So we talked about it and decided to purchase the Auk. CLC had a special demo price so I took the bait. A few weeks later, a truck brought the kit.
To keep the finished weight close to the projected 35lbs, I will need to save weight where ever I can but CLC included a dozen strips of walnut which is a beautiful wood on a strip kayak. Walnut weighs about 30% more the western cedar so I’ll use it carefully. I’ve also got plans for a little bit of ash and pine but we’ll see. Those woods are heavier also so maybe just a little for accent.
So here we go. Hope you enjoy the build. I’ll try to keep it interesting.