Living in the Adirondack Park and being an avid outdoorsman has often resulted in the author's love of the outdoors working its way into class projects. In 2010, the author gave a group of 25 students in grades 9-12 a challenge that required them to design and construct a prototype inexpensive, lightweight kayak for backpackers and fisherman. In this article, the author shares the activity details, a detailed student procedure for kayak design and construction, and activity documentation with other educators who might want to have their students give it a try. The activity is a great hands-on introduction to the engineering process--and a lot of fun.