Nick Schade

I started building boats when I graduated from college and needed a boat of my own. With the goal of a small boat for exploring the coast of Maine, I designed and built my own sea kayak in 1986. Since then I have continued to design kayaks and developed techniques for building them, and have been self employed as a professional kayak designer and builder since 1995. I still approach boat design and building as a user of the finished product.

In 1998 I wrote "The Strip-Built Sea Kayak" which has become the bible for building kayaks using the strip-planked method. In 2009 my second book "Building Strip Planked Boats" came out detailing much of what I had learned the the intervening 11 years. The new book is provides boat builders with the knowledge to create any kind of small boat using the strip-built method.

I continue to design, build and use kayaks, refining my skills in all three. Guillemot Kayak designs are being built around the world and my finished boats are receiving recognition at top museums and exhibitions.

http://www.Guillemot-Kayaks.com/