[Paddlewise] Ethics of wooden kayaks

I have been wrestling with the ethics of using what I am sure is old 
growth lumber for my boats. I have not come up with a non-selfish 
reason why I should continue to use it, but I do continue. The old 
growth stuff is just really nice to work with, is beautiful and is 
all-round better stuff than new growth lumber.

I rationalize that the 30 to 40 board feet of lumber per boat is not 
a big drain on the environment. My mother-in-law's house was just 
clapboarded with beautiful western red cedar siding. With the 
leftover clapboards I just sided a 10' x 20' boat storage house and 
still have enough leftover for a similar sized building. If the 
builders were better at estimating their usage in ordering, the 
amount of wood I use for kayaks could easily be saved.

BTW, anyone want some nice western red cedar clapboards? I've 
probably got 400 or 500 linear feet leftover. Probably enough for a 
10' x 12' building with 8' walls. I would cut them up for boat 
strips, but the 50% or more waste in the milling prevents me.

Nick

At 1:57 PM -0800 10/29/00, Doug Lloyd wrote:
>Mel responded to Dave's comments:
>
>  (Dave Kruger said):
>>political correctness (can't leave that out!):  Wood boats use
>>up high-quality wood, either from temperate rain forests (cedar
>strippers) or
>>tropical rain forests (okume sng boats).
>
><<When I was in Seattle I dropped by Pygmy and paddled a few of their
>boats.  My wife asked about the wood and where it comes from.  They
>claimed that all of their wood comes from tree farms in Israel, not from
>a tropical rain forest.  Specifically planted trees for later
>harvesting.>>
>Mel
>
>Coincidentally, I'm working on an article for Wavelength Magazine this
>weekend regarding "Wood Technology in the 21st Century". I'm covering
>aspects including woodworking safety, as well as ethnical considerations
>for their upcoming wooden boat issue.
>
>My research and interviews with Pygmy and Chesapeake Lightcraft, et al,
>suggests the Okume plywood is harvested in Africa on plantation grow
>operations, and the actual plywood, amongst other countries, is
>manufactured in Israel. No one is actually on-site at the African
>location, so as of yet, the plywood can not be eco-certified, though
>attempts are being made. While plantation wood is generally a good
>environmental practice subject to on-going verification in the above
>instance, the social consequences and related questions, still to be
>answered, are even less readily apparent.
>
>Cedar strip canoes and kayaks are a bit more problematic, in that
>generally, end-users prefer the higher grades of tight grain cedar -
>read, old growth. One high note, is that due to its prized nature, small
>salvage operations are attempting to extract the countless cedar logs
>still left in the forest from reckless, wasteful logging practices over
>the last few decades.
>
>Regarding cedar: In my late teens, I worked for a year for a
>high-pressure company that helicoptered-out blocks of cut-out old cedar
>(we did the back-breaking cutting and removal with 4' long chain saws
>and heavy mauls) for shipment of shakes to mostly California homes
>during the heyday of that fad. I can attest to how remarkably well
>preserved this wood is after many years lying about. The long-rage
>implications for quality cedar harvesting of live trees, is still a
>thorny issue.
>
>To be environmentally responsible however, one's efforts are better
>spent working at the political level and consumer demand level with
>respect to insisting your wood purchases are from sources where
>sound-environmental practices are carried out -- rather than worrying
>about the bit of wood that the end user tallies up constructing a kayak
>or canoe. My opinion, of course.
>
>BC'in Ya
>Doug Lloyd
>

-- 


Nick Schade
Guillemot Kayaks
824 Thompson St, Suite I
Glastonbury, CT 06033
(860) 659-8847

Schade_at_guillemot-kayaks.com
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/

>>>>"It's not just Art, It's a Craft!"<<<<

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