Re: [Paddlewise] my boat(s)

I have three boats, and for the longest time, all three were in my
closet, but now I leave one or two assembled in various places around
New York City.  None are difficult to assemble or knock down; it
actually takes more time to go to a storage place, get the boat out, tie
it on my car roof etc. than it takes to make any of them.  But it is an
awful lot to carry one up three flights of stairs at the end of the day
to my apartment.  Besides, how will people in other cars on the highway
know I am a tough seakayaker unless I have one strapped on the roof of
my car. :-).  Here are my boats:

A Klepper Aerius II double, Classic skin.  (35 inch beam, 17 feet long,
75 lb weight) This one I have had for 10 years and will never give up
(and probably won't have to since I am certain it will outlast me!).  It
has seen me through paddling situations in which by all rights I should
have not been able to stay upright.  Such as a real dumb launch through
mounting surf in which I went totally broadside to the breaking waves
and should have windowshaded, but somehow the boat on its own saw me
through.  It is nice to have beneath you a kayak you know has crossed
the Atlantic and is used by military forces the world over; hell, if it
can do all that it certainly is up to anything I am up to.  An extremely
tough boat with a stellar record of seaworthiness.  And the quickest
boat to assemble of any folding one.  I have done it in 7 minutes with
my wife (even before getting heavily involved with folding kayaks) and
it has been done in 4 minutes by a factory team.  I will probably be
buried Viking style in that classic boat.

A Feathercraft K_light.  It is my take everywhere boat.  Light as a
feather (or well lots of feathers) at 33 pounds (13 feet long, 25-26
inch beam).  And so easy to cart around in it backpack harnessed
carrying bag.  Easy to assemble, ease to paddle.  It is a fun boat.  I
think everyone should have one in their closet, whether one paddles
folding or rigid kayaks.  The K-Light is the best selling folding kayak
currently and with good reason.

A Nautiraid Raid 1 (51 pounds, 15.5 ft long, 28-29 inch beam).  I
recently sold a Klepper Aerius I Expedition in order to buy this boat. 
I liked my Aerius single and it saw me through a lot, but its weight (62
pounds or more) was getting to me.  I still am learning about my new
Nautiraid.  I feel it takes time to catch on to the nuances of any
boat.  I like everything I have discovered thusfar of the Raid 1. I like
its small cockpit and taut skin and its relative speed.  Like the Aerius
I, the Nautiraid doesn't track well.  Over time I learned to make the
Aerius I go as straight as an arrow no matter what winds and seas were
doing on my beam. The Raid 1 has its own way of reacting to side forces
and I think I am just about now in command of it as I was of the Klepper
single (I don't use rudders on single boats).  

As you may have guessed I have a Three Bears approach to kayak
ownership, I need a Pappa, a Momma and a Baby Bear in my fleet.

ralph
-- 
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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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