Story by
Suzanne Weiss

Photos by
Matt Marton
 

Three kayaks, at left, and a triple Bidarka are in the makings  as recent workshop participants labor over the frames of their boats.  Rogers works on a kayak frame during one of his boat-making workshops. Mark Meisner of Manitowoc oils the coaming  (cockpit opening) of his triple Bidarka Jim Kuch of Kalamazoo Mich. begins sewing the canvas skin of his kayak. When the work of boat-building is done, Mark Rogers unwinds with a  tune on his hand carved flute. With a keen eye for detail, Mark Rogers, owner of Superior Kayaks  Inc., right, lines up the bow stem of a kayak during a recent workshop. Behind him is a display of finished boats. A measuring stick helps center the keel  on a Greenland kayak.

WHITELAW - Mark Rogers is a stickler for detail. "Try not to do that," the master kayak builder tells John Mann as the retired air force chaplain yanks on a knot of flax thread. "Every one has to be treated with respect. It's a natural fiber and natural fiber tears if you don't do it right." Mann isn't flustered by the admonition. "He's a perfectionist. That's why I'm here," says the Florida man who with friend Dana Decker drove some 1,200 miles to Whitelaw so they could build - under Rogers' close supervision - their own Greenland skin-on-frame kayaks using all natural materials and designs that are thousands of years old. They are among five students who recently enrolled in the School of Traditional Kayaks, run by Rogers and his wife,, Celeste, owners of Superior Kayaks Inc., 108 Menasha Ave., Whitelaw. The Floridians had the opportunity to take a kayak-building workshop closer to home, but decided to come here because they heard Rogers was the best, Decker said. "In the next millennium, I might get the hang of it," mumbled Mann with self deprecating humor as he continued to tie flax knots. Flax "actually gets stronger when it gets wet," Rogers explained patiently. "He gives you so much more - not just how to build it, but the history and tradition," Mann later confined. "Mark is responsible for building more skin-on-frame boats than anyone in the country," said his wife, who cooks meals for the appreciative students and handles the company's books. "This is definitely Mark's passion. I'm just along for the ride," she said with a contented smile. And what a ride it has been. The Rogers's run between five and six 9 1/2-day workshops each year, during which pupils build their own kayaks from start to finish. When he's not helping others construct their own kayaks, Rogers is custom-building mahogany kayaks and traditional Greenland paddles for his customers. His boats are so much in demand that he is now taking orders for delivery in the year 2002. Rogers, a former mechanical designer from Bloomingdale, Ill., built his first canoe when he was 14. By 1979, kayaking became his focus. Ten years later, he quit his job to go into the kayak business. To improve his commercial designs, he turned to studying the ancient art of kayak making perfected by the Inuit people of Greenland more than 2,000 of years ago. The skin-on-frame boats, known for their flexibility, were "hunting machines" used primarily to track seals, Rogers said. His pursuit of the ancient craft lead him to Svend Ulstrup of Denmark, one of Europe's most accomplished skin kayak builders. Like a sponge, Rogers soaked up all that Ulstrup had to offer. From the Greenland kayak, he moved on to the art of making the Bidarka, according to an Aleutian Inuit design more than 5,000 years old. Although canvas has replaced seal skins, the techniques and designs remain virtually unchanged. No glue or nails are involved. The wooden frames are held together with wood pegs and flax thread. The natural fiber canvas is treated with linseed oil and chalk for waterproofing. Instead of tape measures, Rogers and his students gauge length and width using string as well as handspans and armspans. "We use a lot of hand measurements because everything is built proportionately to the person," Rogers said. "That makes a big difference to the person and his enjoyment and his ability to paddle that boat." The boat length is three times the person's height; the width is his hip measurement plus two fists. "If it fits right, it's like a shoe," said the 250-pound Decker, whose Greenland kayak was noticeably wider than the one 160-pound Jim Kuch of Kalamazoo Mich. was constructing. Kuch, an artist and stay-at-home dad, enrolled in the seminar in part because he needed a break from the house and his two preschoolers, he said. For the past four years he had been using a plastic kayak that didn't suit him very well and found that Rogers' Whitelaw workshop was the only place he could build a boat to fit his body type, Kuch said "Every one is unique creation," Mann said. "There's no two alike in the world." Unlike Decker, a carpenter by trade, neither Kuch nor Mann had previous building experience. But that doesn't matter to Rogers, who sets a pace that all can follow. His pupils have ranged in ages from 10 to 84. Rogers has even taught the art of kayak-building to adults and children with learning disabilities. His greatest triumph was working with a man who had dyslexia and had never before completed a project. The experience gave the young man confidence to believe in himself. This is a life-changing experience ... they just don't know it yet," Rogers said of his current crop of students.

Kayak workshops offered
WHITELAW - The School of  Traditional Kayaks run by Superior Kayaks Inc. of Whitelaw is holding the following West  Greenland Kayak/ Single or Double Aleutian Bidarka Workshops: One more workshop will be given this year, Nov. 6 -15. The year 2000 workshops will be Feb. 5-14; April 1-10 (filled); June 10-19; Oct.14-23 and Nov.4-13.
Cost is $1,150 for a Greenland kayak;$1,250 for a single Bidarka and $1,550 for a double Bidarka. This includes materials, tools and  instruction.