A fellow kayak builder, Pedro Almeida, has an annual paddling fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.  They paddle from Miami to Key West, Florida.  This year will be their tenth trip.  I’ve lost many friends and relatives to cancer and have some that are currently battling it.  Hopefully you can help sponsor his trip:

My annual fundraiser is coming up quickly. As many of you might remember, we paddle our kayaks from Miami to Key [...]

It’s been really tough lately finding the time to update the website.  I should have been done weeks ago.
Anyway,  this is just a quick note to say that “Elsie”, the semi-historical rendering of the LC-148 specimen at the Danish National Museum collected from East Greenland, now has her own page in the portfolio. 

I know… I’ve been promising to write an update on the Canoe and Kayak Coating Abrasion Test that I ran back in the Winter/Spring of 2008.  In the past month or so there has been a lot of discussion about it on Björn Thomasson’s website.   Here it is… finally.  This update mostly concerns the “white graphite.”  Actually there’s not much more than what I wrote in a comment…
At this point we can not recommend using [...]

I just received this message from Gonzalo. He seems to like his Nereida!  I can’t wait to see some pictures of it in Spain.
Dear Dan
Nereida is just INCREDIBLE
We have been paddling together an is FAST, ELEGANT…and almost sexy!!
I still don´t have photos on the sea, but believe: everybody turns and stare at her.
I can stand about 5-6 Knots, she surf waves, is stable…the perfect kayak??
I am a HAPPY MAN
Thank you Dan!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m always looking for the best coating for the canoes and kayaks I build and paddle. Wether it be a clear varnish or an opaque paint, whatever I use it has to meet two basic requirements. It has to protect the epoxy matrix from UV and abrasion damage. Epoxy will break down over time when exposed to the UV rays in sunlight so the coating must have a good amount of UV [...]