A few winters ago, I built the Chesapeake LT17. This is an awesome craft in many ways. It is stable, responsive, and fast. It will carry a paddler and plenty of gear. And it's looks will turn heads.

Unfortunately, after launching a new boat, any kayak builder (or buyer) will soon start thinking about the next boat to build or buy.

For me, this thinking pointed me North, toward Greenland.

When I selected the LT17, it was chosen for a variety of reasons. It is a very versatile design, and appeals to many paddlers. Campers can pack weeks worth of supplies into it. Yet, it is light, responsive, and fast. I believe that the Chesapeake LT17 is probably one of the greatest all-around recreational kayaks ever designed. As my first and only kayak, it has served me well.

As my skills developed while paddling the LT17, I began to think in terms of a boat chosen not for all the possible things it could do, but chosen for the way I actually paddle. And the way I actually paddle is that I put in, play for a couple of hours, and then go home. Why do I need the volume for camping, when I rarely carry even a sandwich? Also, during this period, I developed an interest in Greenland kayaking. I built a couple of Greenland paddles, took instruction, learned some braces and rolls. So naturally, as I think of a new "play boat", I think of designing it along the lines of low-volume Greenland kayaks.

At this point, one might ask, " why not just build a skin-on-frame Greenland kayak?" The answer is... because I said so! I want the characteristics of a Greenland hull, and I also want another wood/epoxy/fiberglass boat with bulkheads. I will eventually get around to building a skin-on-frame boat.

One might also ask, "why design your own, when there are so many other designs out there?" The answer here is manifold. I considered buying plans. There exist several highly-regarded designs. In my mind, the designers of these existing plans designed to their own body dimensions,and with their own uses in mind, then made the plans available to the public for purchase. So, by drawing my own design, I'm getting two things: The design experience, and a custom boat built to my own body dimensions.

So, the goals of this project are:

Design the boat
Use the anthropometric dimensioning system, and some more modern engineering tools to determine the design.
Draw the boat, and develop a set of offsets to reproduce it in the future.

Build the boat
Use some techniques that I have used before, and try out some new to me.

Launch and evaluate the design
And have fun.