Hand built wooden and composite boats.

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What We Offer

Building boats up to 25 feet from kits.
Building boats up to 25 feet from plans.
Completing partially built boats.
Building Stand Up Paddleboards (SUPs).
Building Surfboards.
Finish work on completed boats.
Restoring finish on old boats.
Repair of wooden boats.

We will also build boats from composite materials (foam core, carbon fiber, etc).

We also offer custom options for any of the above services.

Contact me for a free estimate for your next wooden boat.

Projects

Click links below to view galleries.

Completed Projects
Current Projects

Cost

The final cost will depend on the size and scope of your boat. A typical stitch and glue kayak will cost about $5000, a strip built kayak $6000, and an open boat under 15 feet would start at $8000. Contact me for an estimate of what your desired boat will cost. If you provide the kit, we will only charge for supplies and labor.

I take cash, checks, Venmo, PayPal, and Visa/Mastercard (add 3% fee for Paypal and credit cards.)

Delivery options can be arranged for customers not local to the Seattle area.

Follow along with your project.

A separate page will be set up for every project. This way customers can follow along with the build process in real time. The pages are updated several times a week.

Kayak Options

There are many options I offer for kayak builds.

Click here for a list of options.

Customizations

Any boat design can be modified.

Contact me to discuss customizations you would want on your chosen boat design.

Boat Building Classes

The upcoming 2026 schedule of boat building classes I will be teaching at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle has been announced! Join me at the Center for Wooden Boats' beautiful workshop to build your own boat.


For more details and to sign up go to: https://www.cwb.org/chesapeake-light-craft-boatbuilding-classes

Awards

Our kayak, the Kea Kayaks Mollymawk, earned an award for Best Human Powered Boat at the 2018 Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival!

Click here to see more photos!

About Me

I started Kea Kayaks in 2006, a few months after finishing construction on my first boat, the Chesapeake Triple featured on this site. I enjoyed working on it so much that I thought I would offer my services as a builder. I changed the name to Kea Custom Boats in 2019 to better encompass my offerings. I am based on Bainbridge Island, WA, in the heart of some of the best boating in the world.

Casey Wilkinson