Boats > Kayak

Kayak Origins

Kayaks were originally developed by the Inuit, the indigenous peoples living in the Arctic regions of North America and Greenland. The word "kayak" means "man's boat". These first kayaks were constructed as a wooden frame covered by an animal skin such as seal skin. Kayaks were originally built by the man who would use them (with substantial assistance from his wife, who would typically sew the skins). The skin jacket of the hunter is then sewn into the skins of the kayak, to create a waterproof seal. The man would measure the frame for the kayak based on his forearm, and a typical kayak is about 19ft long. This measurement style confounded early European explorers who tried to duplicate the kayak because each kayak was a little different. Kayaks were used to hunt on the coastal and open waters of the Arctic Ocean, usually with harpoons and lances, but also with bird hooks. Because the user was sewn into the boat, it was almost like a piece of clothing, 'worn' by the boater. This meant that what is now known as a 'wet exit' (getting out of a kayak that has overturned, righting it, and getting back in) was impossible, leading to the importance of the eskimo roll manoeuvre, where the kayak is righted without leaving the cockpit. For the Inuit, without modern floatation devices or cold water protection, being thrown into the freezing waters of the Arctic Ocean was almost certain death in any event. Greenland style boats are typically narrower, and are paddled with greenland paddles, typically wooden, long and narrow.

Skin on frame kayaks
Often an umbrella term for several types of kayaks, Skin on Frame boats are primarily considered a more traditional boat in design, materials, construction, and technique. They are often the lightest kayaks, and traditionally made of drift wood pegged and or lashed together and seal skin stretched over it, as those were the easiest materials to source in the arctic regions.

The Dutch were some of the first Europeans to take interest in the indigenous American boat design, spelling the name for these Inuit & Aleut boats, Qajaq. This spelling of the word kayak has evolved to be synonymous with “traditional kayak” and often encompasses three sub categories of boats separated by development local:

• Baidarkas, from the Alaskan & Aleutian seas, and are a much older design. Their more rounded shape and high number of chines give them an almost Blimp-like appearance.
• West Greenland kayaks are what most neo-traditional polymer boats are modeled after. Possessing often fewer chines they are more angular in shape, the gunnels rising to a point at the bow and stern.
• East Greenland kayaks appear similar to the West Greenland boat, but are often more snugly fitted to the boater and possess a steeper angle between gunnel and stem. Lending maneuverability traits more adapted to the local environment.

See:
• Boat
• Boat Types
• Bermuda rig
• Watercraft
• Kayak
• Kayak Origins
• Folding Kayaks
• Recreational Kayaks
• Sea Kayak
• Whitewater Kayaking

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kayak".