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The Boat Building Academy at Lyme Regis has organised a 10-day West Greenland kayak building course starting on the 27th September.
The instructor is Lars Herfeldt, who first paddled a kayak in the 1960s and was the first to import British sea kayaks to Germany. In the 1980s he started making paddles and in 1989 built his first skin-on-frame kayak with Svend Ulstrup, who learnt the skill in Greenland.
Lars has now made over 400 paddles and 30 East and West Greenland kayaks and is a member of Qajaq USA. (He also completed one of the BBA’s courses recently and completed a very cool old-fashioned Swedish-style motor launch.)
While the course will be instructed and run by the Boat Building Academy, it is fully residential and takes place at nearby Trill Farm, which specialises in sustainable living skills, organic farming, natural remedies and more.
Over the ten days of the course students will each build their own made-to-measure kayak, using either linen canvas or ballistic nylon, and a paddle – the ballistic nylon kayaks will be completed and paddled in the sea at Lyme Regis before the end of the course.
For more details on the West Greenland kayak or the course, call Yvonne Green or Emma Brice on (0)1297 445545.
G'day Gavin, I have a SOF West Greenland kayak in frame form hung up in the shop. Built it with the aid the Instructables site. Won't cover it till nearer summer when I hope to have another, smaller one with a flatter bottom for a less boat savvy wife. I paddled one in Hobart, skittish is what I'd say and a little too flexible in waves for my liking. But our bay is often mirror flat and they will suit there.