Design
Northwest Passage
Designed by Dave Kuperstein
Dave Kuperstein's touring kayak for paddlers of 100 to 180 pounds, 16 ft 2 in long because that is what two sheets of 4 mm plywood will yield, with a third sheet for the deck, hatches and coaming. She has a shallow V bottom, round bilges, moderate flare, 8 in sides and about 2 in of rocker, and weighs around 42 pounds. Kuperstein reckons she runs straight and turns with a gentle lean, and compares her drag figures favourably with the shallow V kayaks reviewed in Sea Kayaker.
The round bilge is the clever part. Panels are stitched and glued on a simple strongback and temporary moulds, then the bilge is forced round with screwed together sections of plastic pipe and clamped while epoxy and tape cure inside and out, a method he calls scrunch and glue. Plans come with an illustrated step by step construction guide, a material list and a tool list, and she can be drawn shorter, down to 12 ft 5 in, to suit a lighter paddler.
What building a Northwest Passage 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
Nobody has logged a Northwest Passage 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 boatBoats like this one
Same type, closest in length.
| Design | Plans from | LOA | Logs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shearwater 16 | Chesapeake Light Craft | 16′ 2″ (4.92 m) | 0 |
| Shearwater 16 Hybrid | Chesapeake Light Craft | 16′ 2″ (4.92 m) | 0 |
| 16' 1" Abenaki | Newfound Woodworks | 16′ 1″ (4.9 m) | 0 |
| 16' Seekajak | Boatkits | 4.9 m (16′ 1″) | 0 |
| 16' Chestnut Kruger | Newfound Woodworks | 16′ 0″ (4.88 m) | 0 |
| Columbia Star | White Salmon Boat Works | 16′ 0″ (4.88 m) | 0 |