The Zen of Wooden Kayak Building
How to Build a Lightweight Sea Kayak (60 minutes)

The Zen of Wooden Kayak Building is all about building a Chesapeake 16, from parts pile to launch. Tackling the apparently abstract boatbuilding process is much easier after watching how easy it really is.

The video clarifies building any CLC kayak kit, not just the Chesapeake kayak family. Although the details vary from boat to boat, the principles of stitch-and-glue boatbuilding remain the same - and they are all shown here.

Making the video required a Chesapeake 16 glue-a-thon: Andrew Wood, one of CLC's full-time boatbuilders, assembled 12 boats in record time. Each was finished to a different stage so we could jump from one step to the next while filming.

The result is a clean, concise and watchable boatbuilding video. We should say, parenthetically, that John composed the original soundtrack music. The detailed narrative is laced with humor, including the only known kayak Viking Funeral and a ubiquitous guy in a gorilla suit. We're not sure how they got on the set, but there they are.

Note: This series is no longer available on DVD; you can find the same content on our Shop Tips or Video Library page, or on one of our two CLC YouTube channels.

Boatbuilding Tips:

Building a Stitch & Glue Kayak

CLC Boatbuilding Video Library

YouTube/clcboats1
YouTube/clcboats