Magazine Articles

         Sea Kayaker Magazine's Objective Reviews of Pygmy Kayaks:
2005 Readers Choice award
Arctic Tern Review (Excerpted) - December 1999.
Coho Review - October 1998.
GoldenEye Standard Review - Winter 1996.
Queen Charlotte Standard Review (Excerpted) - Summer 1994.
          Feature Articles:
Wavelength Magazine Outfitters and Guides Warm up to Wood January 2001
Outside Magazine   Features Pygmy's Arctic Tern - October, 1999.
The Seattle Times  Features John Lockwood  - Pacific Northwest Magazine, August 8, 1999.
WoodenBoat Magazine Feature "Building the Osprey Triple" Oct.1996 (Excerpted). 
Canoe & Kayak Article "To Build a Kayak" (Excerpted) - Oct. 1995.
Sports, Etc. Article "Hip Injury Leads to Pygmy Kayaks" April 1997.
Popular Woodworking Magazine Article "The GoldenEye-Hi" (Excerpted) July 1994.
WoodenBoat Magazine "A Byte at Tradition" John Lockwood computerizes kit design. Nov. 1987.

Outside Magazine Features Pygmy's Arctic Tern, October, 1999
"Building Your Own Sea Kayak" by Jonathan Hanson
"The initial sea trials proved we had built not just a well-designed boat, but a well-designed kayak. The hull of the Arctic Tern has hard chines (corners where the bottom and sides meet), which result in confidence-inspiring stability. It tracks straight and turns on command, even without the optional rudder. And it weighs ten pounds less than fiberglass boats, yet it’s their equal in strength and internal storage space. In fact, though Noah would have scoffed at my handmade ark—it’s 11.3 cubits long, not 300—it just might hold enough gear for 40 days and 40 nights, assuming you forget the livestock"

This is an excerpt from an article that appeared on page 142 of the October 1999 edition of Outside Magazine. Read about this modern-day Noah and his experience with a Pygmy Kayak.  To read it all, click Full text Outside Article.
For more information about this boat, click the Arctic Tern.

Seattle Times Features Pygmy's Founder, Aug. 8, 1999
"There's Something About Building a Kayak" by Paula Bock
Seattle Times Staff writer Paula Bock's cover article for the paper's Sunday Supplement chronicles the author's own experience of building a Pygmy kayak (a Coho), and gives the extraordinary background of Lockwood and Pygmy Boats Inc. The article contains a series of great photos by Times Staff photographer Benjamin Benschneider. Full text of Pacific Northwest Magazine article.

Sea Kayaker Magazine prints the paddle sport industry's most thorough, technical, and objective reviews of sea kayaks. The editors select highly skilled test paddlers. Their names remain undisclosed to the public or to the manufacturers so as to preserve objectivity. Over the years, Sea Kayaker has reviewed 4 Pygmy kayaks. Here is the latest.

Sea Kayaker Product review of the Arctic Tern, Dec. 1999 issue:
Arctic Tern Review  by the Editors
Three anonymous paddlers, selected by their editorial staff, (5'1" woman, 6'1" man, 6'2" man) gave our Arctic Tern a thorough test in a wide range of conditions, from calm water to 25 knot winds and 4 foot waves. They were all very impressed with her. Here is a sample of what they had to say:

"I really loved this kayak. the hull design is top notch, it combines superb rough-water handling , good tracking and turning, and outstanding surfing ability for a touring kayak. A great choice for beginners interested in learning good technique and edge control." (KW) 
"I really enjoyed my time with this boat, and I was loathe to give it back. It handles well and one could use it for day paddling, long trips, and even local racing." (HE) 
"The Arctic Tern is a pretty boat with nice handling characteristics. It is a good general-purpose cruiser that would carry ample gear for camping. For someone coming into the sport, it would be a great woodworking project and a nice boat that one would not soon outgrow." (TE)

For more information about this boat, click Arctic Tern.

Sea Kayaker Product review of the COHO, Oct. 1998 issue:
COHO Review  by the Editors
Three anonymous paddlers, selected by their editorial staff (5'2" woman, 6'2" man, 6'2" man) gave our
COHO a rave review.

"The multi-chine kayak has "nice sleek lines, and the beauty of a wooden boat can never be matched by an all fiberglass boat. This boat will turn heads on the water, the beach and on the car top" (VS). "The beveled deck is a fantastic feature which really helps make the stroke more comfortable" (KW). For KW, rolling was "a snap, provided a secure fit in the cockpit." While practicing reentry rescues, KW noted that the aft bungies worked well for setting up a paddle float--the ridge on the aft deck was low enough that it "did not hinder solid bracing on the paddle float."

KW said, "The good handling for its length combined with its quickness and beauty send it to the top of my ratings for an expedition-style kayak."

VS said, "Of all of the boats I have reviewed, the Coho is my hands-down favorite, the combination of light weight and superb handling make this a wonderful boat. It is a good-tracking cruising boat I would recommend to anyone, whether novice or an experienced paddler."

--Sea Kayaker Magazine, October 1998 issue. To read it all, click Full Text Coho Review.
For more information about this boat, click the Coho.

Sea Kayaker Product review of the GoldenEye-Std., December 1996 Issue:
GoldenEye Review By the Editors
Three anonymous paddlers, selected by their editorial staff (5'2" woman, 5'6" woman, 6'1" man) gave our GoldenEye Standard and extremely positive review. They really put the boat to the test, two of the three reviewers took the boat out in 3 foot whitecaps and 20 knot winds. This is what they had to say:

The GoldenEye has good stability. "In terms of paddling 'feel,' one of the most comfortable boats I have ever paddled...I felt secure in it immediately" (VS). Of the secondary stability, TB wrote, "the stability holds fairly far out, as you can lean the boat over quite a ways and it will still right itself."....

"The boat is quick and responsive. It accelerated and held speed with little effort" (DA). When unloaded, the GoldenEye gave all of our reviewers a sense of easy, effortless paddling, perhaps because of its light weight. "The day of my test I paddled over ten miles and I felt like I had hardly done any work" (VS).

"The boat held a variety of courses in the wind with little effort. I noticed no excessive weathercocking. In the wind conditions I encountered it just went where I pointed it (DA).

"This is a fine cruising, fishing, and general use boat for a larger and intermediate level paddler. Its comfort and sea handling characteristics are excellent. It is light, simple and does everything well." (DA) "It is so light, so comfortable and handles just beautifully" (VS).

--Sea Kayaker Magazine, Winter 1996 issue. For entire text, click GoldenEye-Std. Review.   
For more information about this boat, click the GoldenEye Standard.
NOTE: Our GoldenEye-Standard and Osprey-Standard have identical hulls from the waterline down. Therefore, this review is also applicable to the performance of the Osprey-Standard.  For more information about this boat, click the Osprey Standard.

WoodenBoat Article about building an Osprey Triple  Oct. 1996 "Building the Osprey Triple" (The Editors):
"Light, fast, stable, and able....In our last issue, John Lockwood and Freida Fenn described building the multi-chined hull for the 20' triple-cockpit Osprey kayak....The Osprey Triple combines simple construction with elegant lines and impressive capability. This boat will serve well for afternoon picnics and for deep wilderness expeditions....We hope you have fun building the Osprey."
--"Building the Osprey Triple", by Freida Fenn & John Lockwood. Read the 2-part construction article with 32 photos: Part I, Issue #132, July/August 1996 and Part II, Issue #132, October 1996.
For photos from this article showing the construction process, See Stitch-n-Glue.
For more information about this boat, click the Osprey Triple.

Canoe and Kayak, Article on building a GoldenEye-Std., Oct. 1995
"To Build a Kayak" by Tsunami Ranger, Michael Powers 
"John [Lockwood] discovered that a laminate of 4mm marine mahogany plywood sealed between layers of epoxy saturated fiberglass provided a better weight-to-strength ratio than any single material. 'The secret is that wooden core...,' he confides. 'Both Kevlar and glass fibers have great tensile strength, but are brittle and therefore do poorly under compression. Wood is an extremely complex composite material, possessing exceptional compression strength. When you sandwich glass and wood together, you get a stronger, stiffer boat that is 25 percent lighter than straight fiberglass, and 40 percent lighter than a plastic boat.'

'On a brisk winter morning a few weeks later. [After building his own GE-std] I walk down to the sea with a new untested craft balanced lightly upon my shoulder. I slipped easily into the spacious cockpit, which I had carefully outfitted with closed-cell foam for performance paddling and a bomb-proof roll. The beautiful wood grain that ran full length to the bow now pointed straight into the sea was a visual feast for my eyes. I felt totally connected to this craft on which I had labored so lovingly. A few pulls on the paddle propelled me swiftly into the surf zone, where the GoldenEye leapt up to meet the oncoming seas with unbridled enthusiasm. Soon I was charging down the waves, surfing easily. After a few exhilarating rides, I turned and headed for open water, the ultimate test of any true sea kayak. Once again, the Greenland Eskimo spirit that Lockwood had bred into his boats became apparent, as the GoldenEye leapt and danced among the big whitecapped seas like an adolescent dolphin.

Ah, to build a kayak, then feel it come alive beneath you in the boundless sea...truly one of life's great and memorable adventures."

--"To Build a Kayak" by Michael Powers, Tsunami Ranger, Canoe and Kayak Magazine, October 1995 issue.
For more information about this boat, click the GoldenEye Standard.

Sports Etc. Magazine on John Lockwood and Pygmy Boats. April 1997
"Hip Injury Leads to Pygmy Kayaks" By Michael Kundu. 
Here's an Excerpt:
Businesses have been started during times of crisis. Pygmy Kayaks of Port Townsend is one of those. A devastating hip injury in 1967 to John Lockwood, Pygmy's founder, led to a search for his passionate love affair of "deep wilderness" and eventually to the founding of the boat building [business].....

Pivoting an Osprey-Standard on the flat surface of a bay outside his Port Townsend showroom on a sunny afternoon in early March, Lockwood is contemplative about paddling...

"Sure, [a kayak] needs to appeal to one's aesthetic tastes, but you also need to be confident about its dependability, its seaworthiness and stability. When you're out there, three weeks away from help, going it solo and at the mercy of the sea, you need to know your kayak will work from a technical perspective."
--For full text, click Sports Etc.

Popular Woodworking Magazine Article on the GoldenEye HI July 1994, Issue #79
"The GoldenEye HI" By Allen Shain. Excerpted from the article:
"The kit is well thought out and provides everything necessary to finish the kayak....The final outcome is a beautiful, strong boat. The GoldenEye tracks straight and handles a solid chine turn. It's difficult to say which I enjoy more: building or paddling."
--"The GoldenEye HI" by Allen Shain, July 1994, Issue #79 of Popular Woodworking Magazine.
For more information about this boat, click the GoldenEye-HI.

Sea Kayaker Product review of the Queen Charlotte-Std., Summer 1994
Excerpts from another Objective Review by 3 anonymous paddlers, chosen by the Editors of Sea Kayaker:
"The Queen Charlotte has a quick and sure response to leaned turns. It accelerates well and easily holds a cruising speed....RS and SK enjoyed surfing the Queen Charlotte. "The hull felt strong and rigid when falling off the crest of bigger waves and didn't flex (SK) 'Fun to carve, turns off the sharp edges, and the boat tracked well with the flat bottom planing and tending not to broach'. RS's comments summed up the general feeling among our paddlers: 'Light-weight and beautiful, the Queen Charlotte is a fun maneuverable playboat for surf, but with adequate speed for touring...beginning paddlers should find it quite comfortable, while more advanced paddlers should enjoy the performance getting up on edge."
--Sea Kayaker Magazine, the Editors & assistants, Summer 1994 issue.
For more information about this boat, click the Queen Charlotte Standard.

WoodenBoat Magazine on John’s computerization of kit design. Nov./Dec. 1987
"A Byte at Tradition" By Richard Webster.
In 1985 John Lockwood, Pygmy Boat’s owner and designer, revolutionized the boat kit business by introducing the first commercially available plate expansion software. This feature article from WoodenBoat magazine tells the story of how John got into kayaking. The story gives the history of John’s introduction of the first precision pre-cut kit boat manufactured in North America. It describes the computer design of the Queen Charlotte, Pygmy’s first kit kayak, and contains a brief on-the-water review.
-- WoodenBoat Magazine, Nov./Dec. 1987

For the full text of this article, click the WoodenBoat Article.