Orca 17: builds and build times

Orca 17

A 16 ft 11 5/8 in expedition sea kayak designed by Evan Gatehouse for Bateau / Boat Builder Central, plan SK17. It is meant for extended touring with a heavy load: beam is 23 5/8 in and design displacement 457 lb. The peaked foredeck sheds water, the moderately high bow adds buoyancy without inviting weathercocking, and the shallow vee hull gives good initial stability.

Stitch and glue in thin 4 mm plywood with light glass. Not difficult, but recommended for builders with one stitch and glue project behind them. The designer's estimate is 30 hours; a more typical budget is 70 to 120. The medians below come from builders who logged this boat here.

What building a Orca 17 actually takes

Medians from the build logs kept on this site, not the designer’s estimate. Nobody has logged this boat here yet, so they are empty until the first builder does.

Build logs

Launched

n/a

Median hours

n/a

Median months

Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.

Builds of this boat

Nobody has logged a Orca 17 here yet.

If you are building one, yours becomes the reference: the page the next person building this boat finds when they search for it. One photo and one line is a valid first entry.

Start the first log of this boat

Boats like this one

Same type, closest in length.

Design	Plans from	LOA
17' Disko Bay	Newfound Woodworks	17′ 0″ (5.18 m)
17' Fire Star	Newfound Woodworks	17′ 0″ (5.18 m)
17' Lapstrake Canoe	Duck Trap Woodworking	17′ 0″ (5.18 m)
17' Sea Wolf	Newfound Woodworks	17′ 0″ (5.18 m)
17' Spirit	Newfound Woodworks	17′ 0″ (5.18 m)
17' Traveler	Newfound Woodworks	17′ 0″ (5.18 m)