capst-winter-2021-Proof1-52REV - Flipbook - Page 46
Abbie Rooper is in the final stage of sanding the Petrel Play SGL sea kayak she has assembled in her garage. Photos by Amy Davis
“We’re working on a replica of a 25-foot
Viking boat, excavated in the 1990s, that was
dated to 1140. It would be great for re-enactments.”
Labor of love
Scram. That’s Abbie Rooper’s response to
those offering to help her build the 16-foot
wooden kayak in her garage in Arnold.
“This is my baby, and I want it to be all my
labor,” said Rooper, 34. Hers alone, the craft will
be, come hell or high water.
Assembled from a CLC kit purchased last
November, the sea kayak should be afloat this
fall after more than 100 hours of work, said the
owner, a veteran kayaker who is employed as
an aerospace engineer.
“I spend a lot of time in male-dominated
arenas, so being able to accomplish this myself
is a ‘prove yourself’ kind of thing,” she said.
“I’ve definitely had people who, when they see
it, assume that it’s not my boat.”
Yet there she stands, for hours, stitching and
sanding and gluing together the kayak of her
dreams.
“I haven’t made any egregious errors,” she
said. “I do use too much epoxy; from all of the
drips, you can see the outline of the kayak on
the garage floor [like a chalk figure at a crime
scene]. But at least I know it’s watertight.”
46 | fall 2021 | capitalstylemag.com
And all hers. Throughout the process, she
said, “when I need an extra set of hands, my
husband helps me hold things in place; otherwise, he’s forbidden to touch it.”
Ben Rooper, who has built several kayaks
himself, said his wife has done “an amazing
Rooper holds a roll of
sandpaper. It is something
she is using a lot of as she
nears completion of the
Petrel Play SGL sea kayak
she has built in her garage.