The Kayak Forum is Sponsored By
|
|
|
| |
Kayak and Canoe Design Bulletin Board
Re: Suction and such...
Posted By: Ian Johnston In Response To: Re: Suction and such... (Nick Schade)
Date: Tuesday, 5 October 1999, at 11:18 p.m.
> Many of the bifurcated bows curved up at the end so they were not even
> shaped to act like the bulbous bow of a modern ship. The most obvious
> reason for them is the inability to make a concave shape in skin/fabric
> without somehow pulling the skin in. You could just puncture the skin and
> tie it to some interior object, but that is hard to seal. It is easier to
> cut large hole in the skin and sew the two sides together.> By creating the hollow, they created a boat with a fine entry with reserve
> buoyancy above the waterline. This helps raise the bow over waves. The
> same problem can be addressed with an overhanging bow like Greenland style
> kayaks.Do you think that this was the original intent of the design, or was it the by-product of it? I just ask out of curiousity. The reason I ask is that it seems like a lot of theory for such a practical people.
In anthropology class I saw a film, shot in the '40s or '50s, on an Innuit family still living their traditional life. Most of their time was spent just trying to survive, which they did remarkably well. But they seemed to live by routine and experience. (What worked yesterday, will work today and again tomorrow.) This is a fact of life for people living in such a harsh environment.
This film was shot over a years time and the best part was that the man built a kayak during this time. He had saved material over the previous year and all during the filming. When he was ready he built it remarkably fast. He built the same type of boat that these people had built for years, as all the problems were already worked out, with modifications only to accomadate his gathered material. After he finished this kayak he was filmed caribou hunting in it. Talk about your "extreme sport"!
My point is that when your life, and that of your entire family, is on the line you will usually go with the tried and proven technique. So where did such an advance come from? It seems like a pretty advanced step to just pop up by a "what would happen if" process.
This question can't be answered now as anyone with this info would be long gone, but what are your ideas?
Ian
| |
Kayak and Canoe Design Bulletin Board is maintained by Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks with WebBBS 5.12.
|
Boat Design |
|
|
|
