What (materials) did the Eskimos build their kayaks with?

Very few trees grew in Greenland and most of the Arctic, so the Inuits scavenged driftwood. This was not a problem in Greenland, as the coast received a fairly constant trickle of driftwood that followed the ocean currents. They used skins, mostly seal, to sheathe their kayaks, and waterproofed them with blubber. Later, when contact with Europe was more common, they began to buy wood at the trading posts, and sheathed their kayaks with canvas.

Courses 2019!

The course calendar has been updated. Check out this year's kayak building classes:here

Kayak building in the USA

From Autumn 2017, Delmarwa USA: Here:

Baidarka paddling

A video clip from summer of 2011's great baidarka adventure:here

Baidarka building

A video from a kayak building class in Vestfossen, Norway:here

New pages!

New, and well illustrated presentation of our beautiful new paddle types! More.

Traditional kayaking article

Jeff Allens article from Ocean Paddler:Les her: