Over quite a few years I've collected a hundred or so Cowry shells along the east coast of Australia - from the mid-north coast of NSW down to the east coast of Tasmania.
I think that they will make rather good spacers on the deck lines to enable the paddles to be slipped in and held firmly under the tensioned deck lines. This approach is an adaptation of the Inuit's use of whale and seal bones on their traditional qajaqs.
To make the shells robust enough I have simply filled them with epoxy resin, allowed the resin to cure overnight and then drilled through the solid shell lengthwise.
And there it is.
This particular Cowrey shell is from the species Cypraea vitellus.
Deriving components for the kayak from the landscape / seascape that it will be travelling through is an important aspect of this place-specific approach to design and construction. The broader aim of which is to create meaningful things (landscapes, buildings, and artefacts / objects) that engage harmoniously, and at deeper levels, with the unique natural contexts into which they are consciously inserted.
The ultimate aim of this approach is to attain the illusive and higher state of belonging.
