Qivitoq (Copyright) 1992 Doug Garmon
The Qivitoq is an Inuit-style Sea Kayak, and was heavily based
on native design. The original inspiration came from 'Wooden
Boat' #104, the Chewonki Kayak. That article and others on Greenland
type kayaks were the foundation.
The Qivitoq is 17'6'' in length, has a beam of 24'', clipper
stems, a v-bottom with 2'' of rocker and a flat chine. She was
skinned with good ol' Luaun 5.2mm plywood and bright finished.
The Chewonki boats had flat (hard) chines, and when I designed
her in 1992, my 3d visualization and design skills were insufficent
for a curved chine. She also has a weird, almost Panzer-shaped
hatch structure, which looks pretty cool, but adds a lot of weight
to the boat.
With a 24'' beam, she's a little wide for a Greenlander, but
I wanted a more forgiving, if poorer performing boat. Even so,
24'' is fairly narrow compaired to many commercial kayaks. I
find her a stable and easy tracking boat.
Notes on Construction
Truth to tell, I would choose another construction technique
next time. As she was my first boat project, I went with the
style of construction as described in the Chewonki article, which
was integrating the stations as bulkheads. This probably added
25-30 lbs deadweight to the design.
A better way would be to tack chine logs, sheer clamps, inner
stems and a keelson to the stations, fair them in, add the plywood
skin and then remove the hull from the stations. The deck would
then be added. Since kayaks are decked boats, only minimal internal
bracing is needed. Also, I would deep-six my hatch design in
favor of a lighter version. However, if you don't mind lugging
a 80 lb kayak off your cartop, then the original construction
is just fine (and it would probably survive a torpedo hit).
This is not a stitch-and-tape design, but an ingenous person
could convert it without great difficulty.
Misc. Notes
1) Yes, the boat has a coaming, but it is not on the drawings.
You'll just have to deal with it. I'm not gonna give you every
detail, 'cause if I add a coaming to the plans, I've got to show
how it's braced, right? But if I do that I'll have to give you
the rest of the internal bracing, and that would limit your creativity.
Have fun, work it out yourselves. (and remember, I just said
I wouldn't build the same hatch anyway...) See Geo Putz's book
for trad coaming details.
2) The cockpit will be small for many people. It's sized for
myself (5'10'', 130 lbs.), with room for a rotating backrest.
3) A comment about brightfinished boats--those who attempt
such a project AND are using epoxy in their construction take
note:
DO NOT USE A THICKENER SUCH AS SILICA ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE
BOAT!
The silica will appear transparent from some angles, but acts
as a reflector when light strikes it from other angles, and the
effect is not pleasant.
Plans Notes
1) The plans are in two sizes, if your viewing software has
trouble with the big one, try the smaller. I do recommend the
bigger, though, as the boat's lines are rendered much finer.
2) About the stem plans--the angle of stem as
it reaches the keel is too steep on it's wet edge. This is intentional--it
gives the builder an extra 1/4'' or so to plane off, resulting
in a smooth transition. |
