WHAT’S IN 5
PHIL RUSSELL’S WORKSHOP
AMID THE SPARKLING WATERS and snowcapped summits of Lake Stevens, Washington, Phil Russell's workshop looks more like an artist's studio than a place where Aleut style baidarka kayaks are crafted. In fact, it’s both. From the colorfully painted boats suspended from the ceiling, to the kayak taking shape on the workbench, each boat is a masterful work of art—constructed from cedar ribs and nylon skin embellished with vivid maps, faces or native designs—amazing to look at and just as remarkable to paddle. TOM KIRKENDALL
3 7
1
9
4
2
4. The use of power tools is strictly limited to making basic cuts for length and for shaping the eight bulkheads he uses in place of traditional bent cedar ribs. Phil does most of the shaping work with hand tools. “I love the quiet time when the machines are off,” he says.
8
5. Once the frame is completed, Phil covers his boats with a nylon skin held together by a single stitch line. He then saturates the nylon fabric with a two-part polyurethane resin that makes it water- proof, flexible and tough enough to be dragged over barnacles.
6
1. The workshop reflects Phil’s meticulous atten- tion to detail. The space is organized for maxi- mum efficiency: hand tools line the left wall; on the right are his two power tools, a table saw and jig saw. At the far end is his collection of paints and varnishes. The center of the shop is devoted to the work in progress—a single boat at a time.
2. Phil's boats are not just a job, they are a pas- sion. Each is a labor of love, from the carefully se- lected western red cedar used to make the frame to the precise lashing of the cords. There are no screws or glue holding these boats together—just the cords that allow stresses to be transmitted throughout the frame making it incredibly strong and flexible. The desire to build and paddle kayaks came to Phil at an early age. “I built my first boat
30 | ADVENTURE KAYAK
when I was 12 using instructions from a Mecha- nix Illustrated magazine,” he remembers. Total cost: $23.18.
3. Why baidarkas? Ten years ago, Phil heard re- nowned builder Corey Freedman speak about the baidarka kayaks made by the Aleuts and southern Alaskan Inuit. These rudderless craft do not squirrel in the wind and are fast and stable, wonderful for long distances on open water. “I was fascinated by the link these boats had to an- cient kayaking and completely intrigued by their evolution into some of the most sophisticated vessels ever designed,” Phil recalls. He immedi- ately enrolled in Freedman's Skin Boat School in Anacortes, Washington.
6. Once the nylon covering is in place, it be- comes a giant blank canvas “crying for a design,” says Phil. His most recent skin boat designs in- clude this detailed, hand-drawn map of the Sal- ish Sea—the native name for the ecosystem of Puget Sound—which he patiently replicated from a chart of the region. Another design features a fanciful rendering of Ogopogo, a Loch Ness Monster-like cryptid that is said to reside in Brit- ish Columbia’s Lake Okanagan [7].
8. Traditionally shaped, hand-carved paddles are long and narrow, with moderately flexible blades. In the center of the handle, Phil carves his signa- ture design of a face on one side and a fish on the other. Each paddle takes about three days to complete—after the fun of shaping and carving, he says, “The sanding and finishing required is al- most like real work.”
Phil Russell can be reached at nanookfish@com-
cast.net.
PHOTO: TOM KIRKENDALL
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84