Spoiled
I’m so spoiled that I forget how spoiled I am. I paddle one of the kayaks I built. In the world of kayaks, it is…
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In the Shop
The Keel Strip
The Keel Strip It was recently pointed out to me that we do something in our build process that isn’t commonly done. I learned to…
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Failure Modes
The first time I heard the phrase, “failure modes,” was in a program about the Three Mile Island disaster. If I remember correctly, a…
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Building Your Boat Part 4: Finishing Details
We’ve made all of the parts, prepped each one for assembly, and even bonded your kayak. So what’s left? There are still a few more…
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The Goldenrod Blem Kayaks
It All Began… It all began with an order for a goldenrod NC17 Quest. I started as I always do, spraying the gel coat.
Read MoreBuilding Your Boat Part 3: Bonding your Kayak
Bonding your Kayak: The Magic of Methyl Methacrylate When bonding your kayak we use Methyl Methacrylate Adhesive (MMA) for several steps of our building process.
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Building Your Boat Part 2: Prep for Assembly
Last week, we described how we make all the parts for your kayak. At this point, like raw gemstones, they are rough. Next, we…
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Building Your Boat Part 1: Making the Parts
What do we mean when we say that NC Kayaks are handmade in the Pacific Northwest? We mean that we make all of the fiberglass…
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Do you know who built your kayak?
If You Get an NC Kayak… In a world where manufacturing is increasingly automated, each NC Kayak is hand-built in the Northwest, by just two…
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We build our kayaks to hold their course.
Straight Talk We build our kayaks to hold their course. It’s not that they’re unaffected by wind and waves. It’s that we’ve worked to minimize…
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Performance Flange
The Performance Flange What is a performance flange? It is a part of each of our kayaks and it was installed to solve one problem,…
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How I got Here
The Port of Angels Much of my family lives in Port Angeles, Washington. I spent the first ten years of my life there and went…
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Glitter Obsessed
Magpies don’t actually like shiny things. The myth is that magpies love shiny things and will steal them for their nest. Science says that…
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Up and Running!
The first kayak. We are manufacturing again! The first two kayaks built at the new shop are fully assembled and are going into finishing…
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