Free Siskiwit Bay Kayak Plans For Backyard Builders
Siskiwit Bay Designed by Bryan Hansel
The Siskiwit Bay is all-around fast mid-sized British-style touring kayak. This solid boat suits a medium to heavy paddler looking for good initial stability and with increased flare above the waterline lots of secondary stability. As the water gets rougher, this kayak feels more stable. It's a fast design slightly more efficient than most British kayaks in its class. When built with a Layback Lounge, it's an easy roller.
- Length: 17 feet
- Width: 21 inches
- Volume: 12.325 cubic feet
Displacement and Sizing
This kayak was designed with a five inch waterline to be built to 50 pounds and to handle a 200 pound paddler and gear plus a 50 pound load in the hatches. It will accommodate paddlers weighing as much a 240 (just under 6" waterline) and as little as 140 (4.25" waterline). It can carry more than 50 pounds of gear, but why would you? See the Nessmuking articles. The deck height 48" forward the back of the cockpit is 11" high, which will handle size 11 feet vertically. (Custom deck designs are possible for larger feet.) The rear coaming height is 8.5" with a lounge, and the front height is 12.75".
This picture serves as an example for how much stuff you can put in the hatches of this kayak.
Yes, there is a 20HD in the bow and stern, and there is still room in both ends to stuff items into the tips of the kayak. And room here and there.
Efficiency
These are the John Winter/KAPER numbers using Sea Kayaker Magazines stipulations.
- 2 - 0 .921
- 3 - 1.915
- 4 - 3.554
- 4.5 - 4.976
- 5 - 7.381
Knots – Pounds of Resistance
Plans
The drawings are provided free of charge for personal non-commercial use. By clicking on the link below which will take you to the drawings or will download the drawings, you agree to use these drawings for personal non-commercial use to build one kayak for yourself and you agree you will not redistribute these drawings in any form electronic, paper, or otherwise. Any additional kayaks built must be approved. Any commercial use of these drawings is prohibited without permission from Bryan Hansel.
A suggested donation of $30 or 5% of the cost of your project, whichever is greater, is requested if you build and enjoy this kayak.
It is your responsibility to determine the seaworthiness of this craft. These drawings come with no guarantees of safety or otherwise. You build at your own risk and when you paddle, you paddle at your own risk.
By clicking or saving these links, you agree to the above. Drawings are provided as a:
- PDF of Station and Stems A1 Size Paper (702kb)
- PDF of Station and Stems 11"x17" Size Paper - 4 Pages (3.29MB)
- Set of Offsets (92kb)
- .dxf file (154kb)
- Cockpit 31"x16" (250kb)
Please, help me save bandwidth and thus money and only download the plans that you actually need.
Other Builder's Photos
Some builder's have been providing photos of their builds. Please, consider doing the same, and find their photos here.
Notes
The .dxf file can be printed over multiple sheets with QCad, an inexpensive CAD program with a free trial period. It's free for Mac and Linux users.
Note on sheerline: This kayak is designed so the deck and hull seamlessly join in one smooth curve. The offset file lists the height of the sheerline on each station. Build the deck above this point and the hull below.
Me, Bryan Hansel, testing out the new stern shape in the cold Lake Superior spring. Snow still on the rocks and one foot waves to paddle in.
Suggested Features:
- Recessed KajakSport hatches. (Two Oval 44/26 – 17 1/2" x 10 1/4". Or Front Round 24 – 9 1/2" and Back Oval 44/26.)
- Recessed KajakSport Day hatch. (Round 20 – 8")
- Layback Lounge.
- Full Perimeter Deck Lines.
- Compass Recess.
- Bungee upfront to accommodate a spare paddle.
- KajakSport End Toggles.
- Recessed Deck Fittings (Seakayak UK, KajakSport or homemade).
- Happy Bottom Seat.
- Keyhole Cockpit with Thigh Braces (15 1/4" x 32" or 16" x 31" opening(This wider opening will help with some Greenland style rolls.).
- Foam Pillar Back Support.
- Yakima Foot Braces.
- Three Bulkheads. (Rear fitting right up to the back of the cockpit. Front as close in as possible.)
Optional Features
- Adjustable Skeg (although this kayak shows minimal weathercocking, in some situations (strong winds and limited or no waves) a skeg may be desirable). I will build my next one with a skeg. The old stern profile does not need a skeg.
Distances to Features
All the following distances are from the stern. These distances serve as what I consider ideal for me. You may vary them to suit yourself.
- 49" to the center of the rear hatch.
- 67" to the day hatch bulkhead.
- 73 1/2" to the center of the day hatch. (In the Layback Lounge.)
- 73 1/2" to the back of the Layback Lounge.
- 80 3/4" to the back of the cockpit and rear bulkhead.
- 85" to the back of Happy Bottom Seat (4.25" foam back pillar glued to floor and bulkhead between coaming back and seat.)
- 132" to the front bulkhead (assuming my recommendations for foot brace placement – vary to suit height of paddler).
- 150 1/2" to center of front hatch. Compass in front of front hatch.
- Footbrace Recommendations for 5'10" paddlers: Back screw at 115" and feet will be at the 125" mark.
- Placement of deck fittings, one on each side (port and starboard): 35", 60 1/2", 71", 115 1/2", 122 1/2", 129 1/2", 136 1/2", 164"
- Placement of deck fittings, one on the centerline: 12", 32", 139", 167", 192"
Dave McKinney having fun. Dave said about this yak,"I can give it a ringing endorsement,it is an awesome boat, I had the chance to paddle it at Meet at the Beach two weeks ago, comfortable, rolls easily, tracks in wind and loads of room for trips. Probably my next boat after my Outer Island is finished."
Designing and Building the Siskiwit Bay Prototype
This website contains an extensive building log of the Siskiwit Bay prototype. You may find the Builder's log useful. The kayak itself was tested over almost two years, over 650 miles, in up to six foot waves and three foot surf, in small craft advisories, on calm days, into small rock gardens, and on several fully loaded trips. I've found it to be a great kayak and pretty close to the ideal touring boat for me. A sportier version is in the works, and the plans are available to anyone who would like to build a new prototype. Contact me.
The sheerline makes the whole process worth it.
Design Changes:
After testing the prototype, the design was changed to address some items. These are listed below. The stem and stern profiles have been changed from the pictures. The stern can still be built with a more steggy look. This makes tracking rock solid, but turning is very difficult. The stern profile in the plans has been tested and is much better for turning at a slight expense of weathercocking (In some situations: Mainly in Force 5 winds with no waves). The stem profile has been modified to ease building. The deck in the above plans is also different than that in the pictures. It is slightly higher from the cockpit towards the bow and has a bit more volume especially in the knee/feet area than the prototype. The bow has been narrowed slightly at the sheerline to give the sheer more grace.
This picture clearly shows the old more skeggy stern. The new stern is shown in the third picture from the top of the page.
It paddles fine in the winter too.
The Siskiwit Bay next to a Tahe Reval. New stern.
The skin Greenland style boat was the inspiration for the Siskiwit Bay, which is the third craft descending from this Greenland boat.
The new stern shape vs. the old shape. The new shape is included with the plans, but you could build the old way if you value a super hard tracking kayak over one that turns.
Shown here is the Siskiwit Bay with the deck I built (red) and the Siskiwit Sport, not built yet, with a better deck almost the same as the deck included in these plans.
Shown it the prototype's cockpit. Note the Happy Bottom Seat and the foam pillar, and the knee braces fully padded out to make the boat fit like a tight glove.
