Re: [Paddlewise] Ralph Diaz: Nautiraid Greenlander?

From: <rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 16:32:29 -0800
Julio MacWilliams wrote:
> 
> (please excuse the broadcast, I do not have Ralph mail address)
> 
> Ralph,
> 
> I just talked to NY Kayak Company and they told me that you are
> going to test a Nautiraid Greenlander pretty soon.
> 
> I am looking for one myself. I need a narrow greenland stylish
> foldable. Randall told me that the new boat is beamier because few
> people feel comfortable in a narrow kayak.
> 
> Could you please send me an e-mail with the beam, length, cockpit size
> of the Nautiraid Greenlander when you get it?
> Also, do you know if anyone wants to sell an older model of that boat?
> 
> Thanks very much for your help,
> 
> - Julio (juliom_at_cisco.com)

I have not gotten it yet. But from what I hear it is beamy, probably
toward the beam of the other Nautiraid singles...but I don't know
that!!!

This is the third generation of the boat.  Originally back in the 1980s
it had a 19 inch beam and was considered unpaddleable by most paddlers
except I guess a Greenlander.  It went to around 23 inches or so beam
(at that point they started calling it the Greenlander Mark II).  But
that boat was hardly sold in the US (as is the case also of the 19 inch
beam one).  This new one with wider sponsons is the Greenlander Mark
III.

I doubt if you will find either the Mark I or Mark II versions as barely
a handful were ever sold.  This new one follows a recent innovation
introduced (actually reintroduced since it harkens back to a development
first seen in the first folding kayaks back around 1910 and seen in some
models in the 1930s) by Nautiraid...make the entire frame outside the
skin and then insert it into the skin via a zippered opening in the rear
deck.  It saves tons of time in assembly.  Several other manufacturers
privately admit that this is a real time-saver for anyone assembling a
folding kayak.  A real clever approach.

I understand the deck is white polyester.  The zippered setup in the
rear deck as two off set zippers.  This should do a good job of keeping
water out plus will make certain you are not left with your zipper open
(no Clinton jokes, please :-)) if a zipper fails.

The price is right.  Around $2200 which is about half what you pay for
the Feathercraft Khatsalano.

Nautiraid makes real fine boats.  Skins are top notch in workmanship. 
The decks and hulls are nice and tight, so much so that you could do the
drill sargeant quarter-on-the-bed check and see that coin really bounce.
Wooden frame.  Let's see.  Oh yes, a well-established company dating
back to the 1940s or 1950s.

I will send you a review when I do one.  I am not certain whether you
will like the boat, however, if you are looking for something real
narrow.  This is not likely to be that.

saludos,

ralph

btw, you aren't Chilean are you?
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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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Received on Mon Mar 23 1998 - 13:36:59 PST

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