Design
Petrel
Designed by Nick Schade
A 17 ft strip-planked sea kayak by Nick Schade, sold as plans and kits by Chesapeake Light Craft. It derives from his Night Heron but is shorter, with more rocker and more buoyancy in the ends, for day trips in rough water, surf and rock gardens. The chine runs from soft and rounded forward to hard behind the cockpit, which resists broaching and helps carved turns, and the deck borrows the angular lines of Greenland skin-on-frame kayaks. Beam is 20 in, hull weight 40 lb, maximum payload 280 lb.
CLC rates it advanced and estimates 250 hours. Schade's book Building Strip-Planked Boats covers this build in detail, and CLC calls it essential reading. Measured medians from build logs appear below.
What building a Petrel 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.
Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.
Builds of this boat
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Start the first log of this boatBoats like this one
Same type, closest in length.
| Design | Plans from | LOA | Logs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17' Disko Bay | Newfound Woodworks | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |
| 17' Fire Star | Newfound Woodworks | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |
| 17' Lapstrake Canoe | Duck Trap Woodworking | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |
| 17' Sea Wolf | Newfound Woodworks | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |
| 17' Spirit | Newfound Woodworks | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |
| 17' Traveler | Newfound Woodworks | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |