Description
This article is from the Sea
Kayaking FAQ, by Todd Leigh with numerous contributions by
others.
48 How were kayaks made?
Driftwood would be collected from beaches. The wood would be formed
using the tools they had. Tools would have been chipped or ground out
of stone, such as obsidian, chert, quartz, or slate; carved from
antler, ivory, wood, or bone; or cold-hammered out of meteoric iron or
native copper. Wood used was typically fir, pine, spruce and
willow. The addition of iron-based tools did decrease the amount of
time spent building a kayak since iron does not dull as quickly as
traditional materials. Historians are not in agreement if iron
improved the quality of the kayak or not. Peterson, in _Skinboats of
Greenland_, presents some information that it did.
Seal skins would then be sewn onto a complete frame. Typical skin used
was from the bearded seal but some groups did use the sea lion,
caribou and walrus skins. The hair was removed from the skins. The
skins were treated with oil for waterproofness. Oil typically had to
be applied every 4-8 days depending on the skin used. Care was taken
that when a boat was in daily use, that it was removed from the water
and allowed to dry once a day.
Sinew was used to lash the frame and sew the skins. The seam on the
skins was waterproof because the stitches did not completely pass
through the skin.
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