bholmes3000 Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Several months ago I purchased the Vardo plans from Kudzu Craft. I have never built a boat, I have no woodworking skills, and I am no expert on Kayaks. A few friends of mine and I decided that we wanted to Kayak this year instead of going on our usual hike. We chose Yellowstone (Lewis Lake, and Shoshone Lake) and I set out to find a place to rent a kayak. While searching for a rental I came across KudzuCraft.com and was intrigued at the videos and the idea of building my own kayak. I spent a few months building the boat after work and in my spare time. I got really excited as it progressed and I started looking forward to working on it more and more. As our trip got closer I skinned and painted the boat hoping it would have enough time to dry. I let it dry for a couple days and loaded it up and off we went. (I test floated it the night before at a local lake just to make sure it floated) After several conversations with passerby's and other at the lake about how easy it was to build we dropped her in Lewis Lake (Yellowstone) and headed out 10.5 miles to Shoshone lake. Not only does the boat look good, it cruises wonderfully. I was the fastest in our group with a half mile lead at most times. It took a minute to get used to the stability but after a few almost tips I had it down. I was amazed at the amount of room I had to pack stuff in. I added two hatches and packed them full of gear. I weigh in at 230 pounds and probably brought along another 50 pounds of gear. I'll certainly reduce that weight on my next trip...just because you can pack a lot of stuff doesn't mean you should. (ha ha) Out and back we did 21 miles over two lakes and a pretty quick river. I was so impressed with the way the Vardo handled. We had calm water, rough water (1 foot waves), and wind and she handled all of them perfectly. (The 1 foot waves certainly made me nervous, we quickly got off the water. Wouldn't recommend staying on the water with that kind of wind and waves) All in all I would absolutely recommend this boat to anyone looking for a fun project. Great camping kayak, touring kayak and all around drop in any lake and do some sight seeing kayak. Here are a few pics of the final Kayak. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 Wow. Lovely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 Yep, must agree with Action Tiger on the "wow" factor. Not only is the Vardo good but that's an excellent report too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 Love stories like this. Especially when someone uses a VARDO as it was intended. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted June 13, 2015 Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 Shoot. I would've built a VARDO if I knew I had to go paddle in Yellowstone. I particularly like the "everything but the kitchen sink" photo. Knowing he's a bigger guy, I can surmise that boat was hauling some oats. Also, clear demonstration of the commodious after deck... It looks like a really low volume kayak, or an old WWII battleship in that photo. I don't know what, but combined with the setting, it's beautiful. It looks like a ton of fun. Many happy returns to you and your boat! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bholmes3000 Posted June 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 Thanks Everyone...Looking forward to my next outing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yakety-yak Posted June 13, 2015 Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 21 MILES! I'll bet you were glad you did it in this sweet ride rather than, oh I don't know, a plastic Lifetime kayak that rides like a WWII tank! Good job on the build. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyshaklfurd Posted July 2, 2015 Report Share Posted July 2, 2015 Wow. Great looking boat and a great story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilotlon Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 Love the look and love the story, and gives me much encouragement. While I have some woodworking skills, I've never built a boat, and I'm more than a little nervous about the undertaking. I just hope I can do as well as you have obviously done. Thanks for the report. Lon in NWArkansas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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