* This belongs
to the collection of David & Helga Zimmerly.
Bering Sea Kayak
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, NMM
IV-E-1071 (see
Lines drawings [7] in
PDF)
Reproduction of Hooper Bay Kayak - from left, Chris, Bill, & David J. Zimmerly & Kathy Monahan.
Photo by David W. Zimmerly.
The Bering Sea kayak is a high volume type with a generous beam and
a
steeply pitched deck ridge. Two people can sit in the cockpit back to
back. The
kayak was used this way for short passenger ferrying trips.
Traditionally, the
rear-facing passenger could become a "rear gunner" armed
with bow and
arrow. The main use for this kayak was as a hunting craft
among the ice floes.
Sea mammals were butchered on a convenient floe and
the pieces stuffed into
the fore and aft sections of the kayak.
As a recreational kayak it's great for carrying your kids. It's one
of the most
stable of all arctic kayaks. It's also fun to build, even in
a cramped space. The
Bering Sea men used to prefabricate all the pieces
in the men's house during
the winter and assemble the kayak in the spring.
I spent one month during 1976 with master kayak builder Dick Bunyan
in
Hooper Bay, Alaska. At 69 years of age, he was one of the last kayak-builders
in
the area. These plans are based on the kayak he constructed at that
time for the
National Museums of Canada. See Zimmerly, 1985,
The Hooper
Bay Kayak,
WoodenBoat 58:74-79. For a photo essay of Dick Bunyan's
construction of this
kayak see Hooper Bay Kayak
Construction and Use.
See also Zimmerly, 1977,
The
Acquisition and Documentation of an Artifact.
Plan 1 - Plan and overview, construction profile with names
of
structural parts in
Eskimo (Yuktun), a cross-sectional view at
the cockpit
showing structural members
and a cross-sectional
view showing every 50
centimeters.
Plan 2 - Four full-size beams ( 2-Ayaagautik, 2-Tuquravik
Ayaaraq ),
sternmost ribs ( 2-Tuntunaq ), sternmost deck beams
( 2-Tuntunaq ) and cockpit
coaming stanchion
( 2-Ayaarparvik
).
Plan 3 - Full-size ribs 11-21 ( Ninak ), deck beams
( 2-Ayaaracuaq, and
1-Ayaara Nilinguq ), and bow block (
profile and top view of Amuuvik ).
Plan 4 - Full-size bow handhold (Ukinnakutca) and
deck
stringer (Kulak), stern
handhold (Pamiyua) and deckstringer
(Kulak), keelson (Kuiyaraq) and bottom
stern
piece
(Kagraaluk).
Plan 5 - Full-size forward ribs 3-10 (Cauyeraq) and
rib and
deck beam locations.
Plan 6 - Full-size after ribs 22-27 (Cauyeraq).
Plan 7 - Table of offsets and miscellaneous construction
details
including
rib/stringer tie, cockpit coaming and port gunwale.
This book documents the construction of a Bering Sea
style-kayak made in the community of Hooper Bay, Alaska in
October and November 1976 under the direction of Dick Bunyan.
Written as journal entries, the text details construction from
the initial splitting of the wood to the final fitting of the
cockpit lashings. Each step is illustrated with
black-and-white photographs and line drawings. The author has
also included detailed measurements of the kayak, a glossary
of Yupik terms, and descriptions and drawings of kayak
accessories.
2000.
107 pages, 84 figures, 89 photographs, 1 map, 3 appendices.
Second addition. ISBN 0-660-17511-8
This book is the second edition of Hooper Bay
Kayak Construction. It is signed by the author and
available for $19.95 US, plus $5.00 US shipping and
handling ($29.95 Cdn, plus $6.00 Cdn S&H). [Ordering
Information]
[1 November 2000]
Reproduction of Hooper Bay Kayak - from left, Chris, Bill, & David J. Zimmerly & Kathy Monahan.
Photo by David W. Zimmerly.
