Baidarka is the name sometimes used for an Aleutian style sea kayak. A prominent feature of a baidarka is its forked bow (bifurcated bow). Very lightweight and maneuverable, it was made out of seal skin sewed only by Aleut women, over a frame made strictly of driftwood (since no trees grow in the Aleutian Islands), bone and sinew. It was treated as a living being by Aleut men (it was taboo for women to handle them).George Dyson, son of astrophysicist Freeman Dyson, is often credited with the revival of the baidarka, through his company Dyson, Baidarka & Company, though Dyson's Baidarkas are made from modern materials such as aluminium for the frame and coated polyester fabric for the skin.. Dyson and his boats were the subject of Kenneth Brower's book The Starship and the Canoe, a book I just finished reading and the obvious reason for this post. Brower's story chronicles Freeman, who is trying to build an inexpensive spaceship to travel the cosmos, and George, who is living in a tree in British Columbia, building a kayak to travel the coast. Awful title, wonderful book.MP3: The Doobie Brothers - It Keeps You Runnin'