About Us

A&E - In Focus Profiles - Kayak Builder from Mustache on Vimeo.

 

Guillemot Kayaks was founded by Nick Schade in 1993 to share the kayak designs he had created for his own personal use. Schade grew up around canoes and kayaks, and after beginning a career as a civilian engineer for the Navy, he decided to design and build his own kayak using the "strip-built" method, which was common for canoes but not widely adapted for kayaks at the time.

Nick worked with his brother Eric to develop the processes needed to make kayaks using the strip-built technique. As Nick's skills as a kayak paddler and boat builder evolved, his designs became focused on maximizing on-water performance while respecting the natural materials. This led him to start Guillemot Kayaks, which specializes in designing and building high-performance sea kayaks for others to construct.

Nick is an experienced kayaker, having paddled extensively in all conditions since childhood. This intimate knowledge of kayak dynamics, combined with over 30 years of boat building experience, has allowed him to engineer exceptional kayak designs. He has written instructional books on the strip-built kayak construction method, helping foster a revival in wooden kayak building. His popular YouTube Channel has opened up the art of boat building to thousands of viewers.

Guillemot Kayaks is currently based in Groton, Connecticut, where Nick builds prototypes and custom kayaks. He has taught kayak construction at various schools and his boats have won awards and been exhibited in museums. Nick is also a Registered Maine Guide.

Why Our Plans are Better

  • Designed By an Avid Kayaker & Boater

    It takes years of kayaking experience on the water to learn how a kayak handles in all conditions. We design our boats to do more than merely float. They will perform. You want a kayak that helps you enjoy your time on the water, not fight against you.This doesn’t happen by accident, we design it into the plans.You can find folks offering to sell you 518 Boat Plans for a cost less than one of Nick’s kayak plans, but I am sure that any one of our designs is worth more than all 500+ of those boat plans combined.

  • Built by the Designer and User

     Everything goes hand-in-hand. Since we build them, we know how to design them so they can be built. Since we use them, we know how to design them so the perform well on the water and build them so they hold up to our abuse.  
    We have broken more boats than most peole have built. Not because the boats aren’t built well, but because we use them hard. This teaches us how to build them so they can take the abuse. 
    Anyone can draw up a kayak-shaped-object, and it might work just fine, but Nick doesn’t want “just fine”, he wants “great”. These plans are for great boats.

  • Used by the Designer

    Quality boat design requires constant feedback between how the boat handles on the water and what is being drawn in CAD. With years of experience on the water, we know what makes a good design really sing when you use it.
    The continuous cycle of Design-Build-Use creates quality boats that you can build, that will last well and perform to the highest standards. These designs by Nick Schade are serious boats, intended to be used. Nick creates great designs because he wants to paddle great boats.
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