Isfjord in Sweden and Connecticut

Sunday, August 16, 2009, 0 comments

Recently launched: two isfjord - one on the Swedish east coast, the other on he US east coast. First out is Oliver Bloch of Norwalk, CT, who´s Isfjord was launched a couple of weeks ago...

Hi Bjorn

Hope you’re enjoying your vacation.

I finished the Isfjord and launched it this week. The build took longer than I’d anticipated, mostly owing to a back injury, surgery and long period of rehabilitation, but I got back to work on it last winter. The boat is fabricated of northern white pine milled by a beloved cousin of mine over a quarter century ago. A gifted painter and early recycler of found objects, he passed on a few years ago but surely would have approved of a craft built from two of his rough sawn boards that is beautiful, seaworthy and a lot of fun.

I fabricated the hatch lips, bulkheads, skeg box and controller recess from six ounce glass and, where appearance mattered, a layer of carbon fiber. I installed a 24 cm Kajaksport hatch in the bow, and a Valley oval in the stern. The skeg and skeg knob were shaped from HDPE, the controller activated by cable with a stainless steel tube as a slider. I wanted a larger cockpit so templated the coaming after my NDK Explorer, then shaped a seat, back pillar and other outfitting from foam.

I’ve had the boat out a couple of times and am very pleased with the way she handles. It can be a little unnerving investing time and materials in a build without having paddled the design before. Thus, I was delighted to find the Isfjord performs just as you described: responsive, seaworthy, not especially fast, with plenty of secondary stability. It comes about very quickly with a sweep and bow rudder, and seems to want to surf easily.

I include a few snapshots below, and maintained a crude blog detailing my efforts at: http://ollib.blogspot.com/

Thanks for penning a great design. When I get the bug to build another, a Hunter or Pearl might be on the short list!

Oliver Bloch, Norwalk CT USA

...then Peter Wiréhn in Gävle on the Southern Norrland coast

(in short - my translation - or maybe more accurate: my interpretation)

Hi Björn

After many hours in the shop, my Isfjord is launched. It is equipped with adjustable skeg and deck hatches - one of which leaked slightly when rolling, but I think that is easily fixed. A rewarding project and I am happy with the result. It is a beautiful model, sits nicely in the water and is easily handled. Now I am interested in building a light racing type of kayak for exercise paddling, I thinking Jehu. But that depends on finding a new shop. The one used this time will not be available for another project.

Thanks for a rewarding experience and a good web site

Best regards
Peter W in Gävle

Hej Björn.

Efter många timmar i verkstan är min Isfjord sjösatt. Den är försedd med reglerbarskädda och packluckor. De tog in lite vatten under rollträning men jag har gott hopp om att få dem tillräckligt täta med små justeringar. Det har varit ett givande arbete och resultatet är jag nöjd med. Det är en snygg modell, ligger bra i vattnet och är lättpaddlad. Nu hoppas jag att under kommande vinter kunna bygga en motionskajak men det hela beror på om jag kan hitta en ny bygglokal - har haft turen att kunna hålla till i hyresgästföreningens kvarters"snickeri" under isfjordsbygget men har känslan av att jag överutnyttjat den generositeten. Hur är din Jehu? Såg att den fanns i två versioner. Hur mycket skiljer det i fart? Den första versionen, hur rank är den? Jag sitter kvar ca 100m i snitt, i en tävlingskajak men det vore skönt att kunna slappna av lite under paddlingen...

Tack för en givande erfarenhet och en bra hemsida.

Med vänliga hälsningar
Peter W i Gävle