Taiga Wilderness Tripper

 

Taiga Tripper Review, Canoe & Kayak, August 2002

"After years of designing and producing stitch-and-glue touring kayak kits, John Lockwood now offers a canoe for the paddler/builder. The finished product draws admiring stares from passersby, and it handles well on the water, too. The canoe nearly resembles a lapstrake boat, or better yet, a wooden version of fabric stretched over an internal frame. But there's no internal frame, and the "fabric" is wood veneer."

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The Taiga Wilderness Tripper Wooden Canoe Kit:

We named our first canoe kit, the Taiga, after the great north woods, where some of the largest tracts of wilderness remain. This area is sprinkled with lakes and rivers of all sizes. Retreating glaciers left behind some of the finest wilderness paddling. Our new Taiga tracks nicely and displays good manners in a wide variety of conditions. Although designed with extended wilderness paddlers in mind, her easy handling, good stability and low weight make her an excellent choice for weekend and day excursions as well.

The first in our line of canoes, the Taiga WT, follows lines of tradition. Designer John Lockwood studied countless traditional canoes during the development stages. With few exceptions, original tripper canoes had symmetrical re-curved ends and tumble home sides. The Taiga is the first stitch and glue canoe kit that incorporates traditional tripper canoe design. Re-curved bow and stern and tumble home are characteristics that have been lost in mass produced plastic and fiberglass boats due to the difficulty of pulling them off molds. This is not the case when you build the beautiful Taiga from precision pre-cut panels.

If you are like us at Pygmy Boats, you often long to get away. Whether you take a month and head to the far north woods or an afternoon to explore local waters, the Taiga wilderness tripper can be your key to solitude. Paddlers will fall in love with the grace with which the Taiga plies the water. Her weight and balance will be appreciated along portage trails. Stealthy efficiency make the Taiga WT an excellent choice for bird watching and fishing as well.
John, family and friends spirited The Taiga and three kayaks off recently for a month paddle on Canada's immense Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. They loaded her down with 70 pounds of food, a 4-man tent, sleeping bags, large air/foam sleeping pad, clothing bags, pots and pans, a cast iron frying pan, fire grill, folding aluminum chairs, personal gear, 3 fishing poles, two tackle boxes, plus the kitchen sink. She took it all, a total of about 700 pounds including paddlers. John was truly amazed at the ease with which the Taiga held pace with our Osprey Double and Arctic Tern kayaks.

Construction is a snap. Check out Wayne Reinert's photo journal of the building process: click here. The pre-cut panels quickly wire up around five temporary frames. A rugged sheathing of fiberglass cloth both inside and out protect her Okoume wood core. Details include beautiful ash gunwales, thwarts and seats. Comfortable, classy wicker seats cushion the tail for hours of comfortable paddling.

If you have been waiting for a classic wood canoe, one that embodies the tradition of wilderness travel, one that will take you from your busy life to quiet solitude, one that you can proudly say you built yourself, wait no longer. Build yourself a Taiga Wilderness Tripper and get out of the office and onto the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taiga Canoe Features:
Hull type… Multi-chine
Best used for… Slow rivers, Lakes, Canoe touring & Families.
Paddler experience level… Beginner to advanced

 

Inside your Pygmy kit:

 

We usually ship "Medium" hardener with our kits.  You may order "Slow" for hot climates or "Fast" for cold climates upon request. Read the System Three Epoxy Book to help select the appropriate epoxy and hardener for you. If you would like a copy of the Epoxy Book, click here to download. We also stock System Three’s Silver Tip Epoxy and offer this as an option in our boat kits for an additional charge.  Note: Silver Tip Resin can only ship via Ground Service and is not eligible for shipments to Alaska