Project for an old kayak

I re-purposed this old K1 kayak into an indoor fireplace

Sometimes deciding what not to spend your time on is one of the best decisions you can make.

Unfortunately, one of the kayaks the Wanda Canoe Club donated to my local paddling club was not worth restoring. It had a couple gashes through the hull, the cockpit combing was loose, the tiller was broken, the wood for the footplate side rails was rotted, and the wood used inside the boat to house the understern rudder was all rotted out. It was also missing a seat, had no way to mount a seat, and all the hardware for the rudder lines was broken and/or missing.

So I made the hard decision to retire the boat.

As I was cutting it up to dispose of it an idea popped into my head as to what to do with a section of it to at least preserve it in some way.

I cut out the cockpit section, cut some plywood to fit both ends of the section I saved, mounted it all to a base and with a little magical help from an LED flame effect bulb, some lamp cord with a plug, and a lightbulb socket from my local hardware store, created an indoor fireplace.

I’m quite pleased with the result and believe I’ve found a truly unique craft project to apply to and old, retired kayak. I hope this inspires others to make some art out of old kayaks rather than sending them to the landfill.

I’m willing to sell this to somebody who bids highest on it in the next 3 months to use the funds to help restore the rest of the boats, otherwise I’ll keep it in my office and enjoy it.

It is already quite the conversation piece and makes me happy throughout each day at work.