Editorial: WOODEN KAYAKS

December 05-January 2006

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Alan Wilson

At age 85, my dad has just bought himself a recumbent tricycle. He hasn’t ridden in many years, since developing an inner ear / balance problem, and the three-wheel stance provides just the support he needs to pedal again.

About ten years ago this balance issue led him to design and build a wooden kayak with a short, very narrow hull, and two outriggers to provide stability. This was actually his second boat building project. His first was a plywood stitch and glue kit which taught him how to use this simple technique.

Both these boats now reside at my place because he says he’s “retired” from active paddling, although we have actually been out together a couple of times this year and he’s still a strong paddler.

More than thirty years my senior, Dad is still remarkably fit and active, still painting up a storm, still involved in discussion groups and helping to maintain his seniors’ complex. He’s busier than I am! And it’s great to see him also pedaling again, at an age when so many of his surviving cohorts are using electric carts or wheelchairs.

I’m sure that paddling and pedaling both appeal to him because they’re self- powered—it’s clean energy.

Imagine free, clean energy. Think of the many different cultures in the past who developed self-powered craft on the rivers, lakes and oceans all around this planet. Think of the clean energy in all those paddlestrokes over tens of thousands of years.

I wonder what those distant ancestors would make of our world today.

When I paddle past a clearcut, I wonder about the long-term climatic impacts of cutting carbon sinks like this. What about the loss of habitat to threatened species? Will the replanted trees regrow properly under intensifying UV? One thing I am sure about, destroying what’s left of the ancient rainforests is clearly wrong.

It was out of such concerns that WaveLength became part of a movement for more sustainable wood products, with the result that greener supplies are now much more available to meet the demand. We also helped pioneer electronic publishing over ten years ago, enabling us to expand dramatically without paper.

Let’s all continue to find ways to work together towards a more sustainable future.

Check out our online Wooden Kayak Directory for images of kayaks you can build at home and hotlinks to company sites. For more on wooden kayaks see ‘Read Our Back Issues’ online: Dec 2000/Jan 2001, Feb/Mar 2001, Sep/Oct 1994.