The Kayak Spectacular

David Lake narrates his build on his custom-made kayaks with stunning inlays that tell a story, in this case, the wilds of Montana, which became the name of this build: Montana Wild.

Key Cast – Dave Lake

Greetings! My name is Dave Lake — I am a woodworker and wood shop teacher based out of Richland, Washington. I began my career turning banister spindles with Seattle Stair and Millwork and from there followed where opportunity and curiosity led me, learning and honing my craft along the way. Over 30 years ago now, I began teaching wood shop at Kiona-Benton High School, which came with the perks of space and funding for the fancy tools I might not have access to otherwise. Between the school facilities and my always-evolving home shop, I have explored all manner of furniture building and home remodeling over the years. In 2010, I became deeply intrigued by guitar building and explored that interest through the STEM Guitar Project, which I eventually joined and implemented in my high school classroom. Few things give a student more incentive to give woodworking a try like the opportunity to take home their very own guitar!

Now onto the kayak origin story. After nearly a decade of steeping myself in guitar building, I was ready for something new. Back in 2003, the Canadian woodworking company Lee Valley distributed their catalog with a stunning wood-strip built kayak on the cover. This picture so captivated me that it has never left my shop wall, serving as constant inspiration. Then in 2014, a good friend named Mort plopped me into a plastic Costco kayak and the experience was transforming. However, I still wanted a boat that I had built myself. Finally, in 2018, I pursued that inspiration and enrolled in a Pygmy kayak-building course in Port Townsend, Washington, and was off to the races.

To date, I have completed nine kayaks, two of which are Pygmy boats. The next logical step after Pygmy was to learn strip-built boats, for which I closely studied the work of Nick Schade, an absolutely phenomenal woodworker in this element. With the help of his books and videos, I gained confidence in the technique and now get to enjoy paddling these boats on the Columbia River with my wife and two daughters. Each new kayak is a canvas and an opportunity to create truly functional art. I hope this passion will keep me busy for many years to come. Cheers!