Orcaboats's Blog
Vancouver Boat Show
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Finished up the Vancouver Boat show in the newly renovated BC Place stadium. There was a good turnout and we were in a new location on the main floor which gave us much better lighting and more space even though it was an odd shape. I brought the kayak that I had under construction as well as my Chestnut canoe and two finished kayaks. Ian McGrath was there with his Rob Roy, and the Oarlock and Sail club was there promoting their club and had a small Gartside pram that they were working on. Lots of interest in our booth as usual with some sales as well. Now looking forward to getting back into the shop to finish up the commissioned kayak and start some new projects.
I am also working on a new design that will be very close to a playful greenland kayak. More on that as I get into the prototye stage. Need to get some new boats in stock for future shows.
New projects
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I have been working with pleasure on an old Ken Douglas sailing dingy. Ken Douglas built beautiful cedar lapstrake boats right here in the greater Vancouver area until recently. To own one is an honour as each one was built to each customers wishes and specifications. The work being done is minor. Cleaning up the hull, re-caulking some seams, then painting and varnishing. The other more interesting project is a turn of the century canoe built in Peterborough, probably by the Lakefield Canoe Company. It is a unique design in which there are battens over the planking inside seams. No canvas or covering on this one. Just good seams and swelling of the hull makes it watertight. It will not be likely that I will get it watertight again, but the owner only wants it for display.
Back to work
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Well it has been hard to back into the shop and get some work done after returning from India, but I need to pay the rent. After taking part in the Boat Show at the Trade and Convention Center a week ago, I am currently working on repairing several kayaks, touching up some varnish on a customers canoe and trying to work on a new Kiska to have it ready for this summers festivals. Once the deck is done on the new boat, I will try to post some photos.
We are also looking at some newer property in which I will be able to have the shop at home. This will allow for more time with my family and rather than pay the landlord, will be able to pay myself more. This has been a long term plan for the business and so this year will see it happen. We will continue to provide most of the services that we currently do with the exception of on site building in which customers can use my shop to build their own boat. The smaller home shop will not allow for this. I also plan to continue to hold the annual Meet at the Beach. I have not set a date for this year yet, but it will likely still be the last weekend in May or early June
Vancouver Wooden Boat festival
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Another year has come and gone for the Vancouver Wooden Boat Festival held each year on Granville Island, Vancouver, B.C. We displayed four boats of our own along with two boats that were built by customers and a canoe that was commisioned last year. Thank you to Adeline and Dirk for bringing their boats down to be part of the festival. As usual, there was lots of interest in plans, kits and finished boats. Our next event will be the Vancouver Boat Show which, due to BC Place being renovated, will be held at the new Trade and Convention center in early Feb. of 2011.
Vancouver Paddlefest
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Orca Boats will be participating in the Vancouver Paddlefest at Jericho Beach on Sunday, June 20, 2010. We will have several of our wooden kayaks there to view or even take for a test run if you are looking to try one of our boats out. This event is organized by Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). More info at www.mec.ca
Upcoming project
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Orca Boats has been commissioned to build two scaled down Kiska kayaks. The two kayaks will be matching, mirror image kayaks which will go into a new home currently being built by a prominent businessman in the UK. The home is in the West Indies. I will try to keep updates coming as the boats are built.
YVR Canoe
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The 14 foot canoe was delivered to the Vancouver Airport on April 6th, 2009. It is now hanging in the new International Arrival Hall along with two other boats buit by Mark Rueten of Nomad Boatbuilding in Victoria. I have not had an opportunity to get any photos of the display, but will attempt to do so in a few weeks once the whole area is open to the public.
Slide show
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I will be presenting a slide show to the Fraser Valley Woodworkers guild on Wednesday, April 1, 2009. The topic will be on building your own wood strip kayak. The show starts at 7 pm at Robert Bateman Secondary School – 35045 Exbury Avenue, Abbotsford.
YVR Canoe
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YVR canoe
Update to web page
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I have been working on updating our web site. I have now added more information on kayak kits and included stability graphs and drag predictions on all the kayak models. Hopefully you will find this info valuable. There is still some work to do and new items added to the shopping page. You can find the web site at at Orca Boats
