always trims so that the kayak draws most water at 

 the fore end of the keelson and the bottom of the 

 stern is usually just awash. This makes the bottom 

 sweep up from the forefoot in a very slight gradual 

 curve to the stern, when the boat is afloat. As a re- 

 sult, the kayak may be said to be of the "double-wedge" 

 form that has been popular in fast low-powered 

 motor boats, since having the beam far aft gives 

 to the bow a wedge shape in plan, while the deep 

 forefoot and shallow stern produce an opposite wedge 

 in profile. It would appear that this form had been 

 found by trial and error to produce a fast, easily 

 paddled rough-water kayak in an otherwise heavy 

 hull. The North Labrador kayaks are the largest in 

 the Arctic for a single person; some are reported as 

 long as 26 feet. The long- and narrow-bladed paddle 

 may be explained by the fact that the Eskimo never 

 produced a "feathered" double paddle, with blades 

 set at right angles to one another. To paddle against 

 strong winds, he developed a blade that was very 

 long and very narrow for a double-paddle, and 

 therefore offered less resistance to the wind, yet 

 could be dipped deep so that little propulsion effect 

 was lost. 



The kayak used on the northeast coast of Labrador, 

 shown in figure 198, differs slightly from that of 

 Hudson Strait. The northeast-coast kayak has a 

 very slight V-bottom and a strong concave sheer with 

 relatively great rocker in the bottom. While the craft 

 trims by the bow afloat, the rocker probably makes it 

 more maneuverable than the Hudson Strait kayak, 

 though less easily paddled against strong winds. The 

 V-bottom is formed by using a keelson that is heavier 

 and deeper than the chines. The latter are thin, 

 wide battens, on the flat. The V-bottom appears to 

 help the boat run straight under paddle and may be 

 said to counteract, to some extent at least, the effect 

 of the strongly rockered bottom. 



The Polar coast of Greenland is the home of sharpie- 

 model kayaks having flat bottoms and flaring sides; 

 the kayaks in figures 199 and 200 are representa- 

 tive of those used in the extreme north. These have 

 "clipper" bows, with sterns of varying depth and shape, 

 concave sheer and varying degrees of rocker in the 

 bottom. Most have their greatest beam well aft and 

 draw more water forward, as do the Labrador and 

 Baffin Island types. The chief characteristic of the 

 construction of this type is that the transverse frames 

 are in three parts, somewhat as in the umiak. How- 

 ever, these kayaks depart from umiak construction in 

 having the frame heads rigidly tenoned into the 



gunwales. This is done to give the structure a 

 measure of transverse rigidity which would otherwise 

 be lacking, since light battens are used for the 

 keelson, stem, and chines. Figure 199 shows the de- 

 tails of the construction used. 



These kayaks are highly developed craft — stable, 

 fast, and seaworthy — and the construction is light 

 yet strong enough to withstand the severe abuse 

 sometimes given them. The cap on the fore part of 

 the manhole is a paddle holder, for resting the paddle 

 across the deck. Some Eskimos used this as a thole, 

 and when tired, "rowed" the kayak with the paddle, 

 to maintain control. It will be noted that oval or 

 circular manholes are seldom found in the eastern 

 types of kayaks already described; U-shaped manholes, 

 or bent-rim manholes approaching this form, appear 

 in tho.se very stable types which do not require to be 

 righted at sea by the paddler and in which the water- 

 tight paddling jacket or waistband is not used. 



Farther south, on the northern coast of Green- 

 land, and apparently also on the opposite coast 

 of Baffin Island, a modified design of kayak is used. 

 This type , illustrated in figure 205, shows relation- 

 ship to both the flat-bottom kayak of northern 

 Greenland and to the northeastern Labrador type. 

 In this model the "clipper" bow is retained but the 

 stern and cross section resemble those of the Labra- 

 dor kayaks. The construction, however, is funda- 

 mentally that employed in northern Greenland. 

 As in the Labrador type, the deadrise in the bottom 

 is formed by using in the keelson members tath 

 are deeper than those in the chine. The gunwales 

 do not flare as in the Greenland model, but stand 

 \'ertical in the side flaring slightly at bow and ex- 

 treme stern. The frame heads are rather loosely 

 tenoned and are commonly secured to the gun- 

 wales with lashings. Tran.sverse stiffness is obtained 

 in this model by employing a rather heavy, rigid 

 keelson fixed to the stern block, and by a tripod 

 arrangement forward consisting of the stem batten 

 and a pair of transverse frames placed at the junction 

 of stem and keelson with their heads firmly lashed 

 and tenoned into the gunwales. The construction, 

 though strong, is rather rough compared to that of 

 other Greenland types. The manhole rim in this 

 type is not bent, but is made up of short straight 

 pieces, as shown in the drawing; and the double- 

 bladed paddle shown resembles that used in Lab- 

 rador. This is a rather heavy kayak of very good 

 qualities but not as maneuverable as some of the 

 flat-bottom kavaks found farther north. 



206 



