At the day of writing this I got a few images of an interesting kayak plan, a small East Greenland model collected by Jørn Riel, Ingsaalik back in 1968. He went on a 300km trip in it and later donated it to the Stockholm Ethnographic museum. Thanks J for the inspiration!
Since I was planning to make another kayak soon anyway, I decided that this could be the inspiration. Who doesn’t need another SOF kayak? Well maybe I but I don’t count!
Now, if I would be smart I’d probably import some of that wonderfully light Paulownia wood we’ve been building with last year. Alas, one is not always smart! Instead I will try my luck with Fir (Pinus Sylvestris). To match the weight and durability of a regular SOF build I will have to make much thinner sticks for most parts. Scary.
Now, just changing dimensions doesn’t really cut it. For example, Paulownia seems to be much bendier and sturdier in live situations than it seems when working with it. It’s reminiscent of balsa wood when it’s dry.
Preferrably I would use the Swedish variant of Norway Spruce (Picea abies) but the quality I can get hold of in our globalized hardware stores doesn’t cut it. It’s full of knots. Transport for a few planks from mills two hours from Stockholm costs more than transport of a 300kg pallet from Spain. Honestly, how does that work? Wouldn’t a country such as Sweden have tons of high quality overgrown Cristmas trees?