The Lincoln Street Kayak and Canoe Museum
January 30, 2016

Winter time can be a slow time for boat related activities, which makes it an ideal time to do research. I want to build a couple kayaks, and where better to do research than the Lincoln Street Kayak and Canoe Museum?

This was a Coot event, and we met at the Hawthorn Fish House (which might also be the Corbett Fish House, I'm not sure.) We had a great turn out - a dozen Coots all in one place, plus a couple more at the actual museum. The food and beer here is excellent - I can't recommend it enough.

I had the appetizer, Cracked Pepper Crab and Cheese Soup over Crispy Fries - it was very good and is probably what Poutine wants to be.

The museum itself is one of those Portlandia gems: a home that has been turned into a business, beautifully maintained, quaint, simply outstanding.

and inside it is just PACKED with kayaks and canoes. Reproductions, most likely made by Harvey himself, each meticulous in detail and execution.

At the front, he has coracles which you know have a special place in the heart of the Toledo Community Boathouse.

Another with a flat . . . stern? Plus an example of a bamboo kayak. I didn't like this bamboo kayak for technical reasons, but that's just me.

This is a Japanese Tub Boat, a little more pointy than the tub boats I saw on the internet, but the real message here is: People will get on the water in ANYTHING that floats.

That's a cool anchor. I can make those.

He has the museum organized with Greenland-style kayaks on the left side and Alaskan/Pacific kayaks on the right. The Greenland kayaks are more homogeneous in style and technique.

The kayaks from the Pacific side of the world are very diverse - from teeny-tiny boats for a single, small person, up to massive 3-holers that were used to carry missionaries around.

Here's another tiny boat, probably a lake boat or at least one used in protected waters. The raised foredeck is most likely for easy ingress rather than shedding water. Not pictured are examples Harvey has of inland boats that were used to hunt swimming caribou, almost all of them have raised foredecks as well.

One of my big questions was why the noses on Pacific kayaks are split. The Internet abounds with hypotheses, and I figured Harvey would have, if not the "right" answer, a pretty darn good one. This is an un-skinned kayak, showing the skeleton.

Here's a skinned one. Harvey's explanation, which I accept, is this design helps prevent spray. It's a brilliant, simple solution that diverts splashes to the side. That's how you stay alive in frigid waters.

This is an example of how tightly a piece of 1/4" thick white oak can be bent when steamed. That's why it is used to make the ribs. Quite a few of Harvey's boats have ribs made of twigs and branches made from willow or hazel.

One of Harvey's passion seems to be models - an excellent way to get a good understanding of a boat's design without the expense, space, and effort of building a full-sized boat.

That's Harvey over on the right. He is an excellent host and a very patient in answering questions.

If you have an afternoon, I highly recommend spending it at the Lincoln Street Kayak and Canoe Museum. You won't be disappointed.