A bright red Thule/2

Tuesday, July 10, 2007, 0 comments

Hello

Here are a couple of pics of my kayaks, Isfjord, Thule/2 and a Kavat. The Kavat was finished some years ago as my first kayak. Then came the Isfjord, with all the bells and whistles, hatches, bulkheads, lines, back support, seat - and now the Thule/2. The Kavat took approx 110 hours, the Isfjord 150

and now the Thule/2 approx 130 hours. The Kavat was built with one goal - to quickly launch a simple kayak. The Isfjord got much more attention and was built from beautiful clear fir from northern Russia. For the Thule/2 it was back to basics again, with a paint finish, though I doubt that the paint saved much time. When building your own kayak the cost is a factor, and do not consider it really cheap. Kavat approx: 4500 SEK. Isfjord approx 5500 SEK and Thule/2 approx 8500 SEK. Absolute everything is included: plans, epoxy, cloth, paint/varnish, lines, fabric, rudder etc. For paddling the Isfjord is most fun, fast and nice. It has no retractable skeg yet - do not know if it ever will. Thule also seems nice, but is only tried a couple of times yet. Do I need more kayaks - yes, but do not tell my wife!

I have published a building log with pics for Thule/2 - but you need Internet Explorer to view it: www.drag.nu and chose "kajaker" (Swedish only).

/Stefan Gustavsson