Re: [Paddlewise] Re German Kayaks

Mark H. Hunt wrote:
> 
>        Several summers back I was driving along, more or less minding my
> own business when the corner of my eye caught the shape of a sea kayak in
> someone's yard sale. Though it had been used quite alot and needed some
> work the price was rediculously low and it was obviously well put
> together. It was made by Bavaria Boat in what was then West Germany and
> the model name was Saga. After a bit of calling around, I found that
> Klepper had been importing them 10 years previously but no longer did.
> They did have some related gear like spray skirts etc in stock which they
> gave me a great deal on. I've since paddled it often particularly when I
> have a load of camping gear or photography gear along. It has withstood
> seal-landings on granite ledges with full loads of gear among other
> things. It is a great boat.

Bavaria boats are made in Bad Somethingoranother, a town next to
Rosenheim where Kleppers have been made for nearly a century.  I visited
the factory in 1993 when I was doing research for my folding kayak book
and the owner of Klepper, Herr Hermann Walther (an ex-Luftwaffe WW II
ace who drove his Mercedes at speeds akin to that of his
Messershmidt!!!), was showing me his neighbors in the kayak business (I
also visited the Prijon works, great fun as I met Prijon father and
son).

The claim I heard was that Bavaria was the largest producer in the world
in fiberglass but not all its boats were kayaks.  If one judges by
building size it certainly is the biggest I have ever seen.

The Bavaria kayaks had a reputation, when they were being sold in the
States, of giving you the most bang for the buck in fiberglass kayaks. 
The fiberglass was laid on thick, so they are nice stiff hulls, but they
weren't too smooth on the inside.  The doubles, I believe, were all open
cockpit boats, i.e. with one large cockpit spanned by a spraydeck with
two spray skirts, rather than two discreet cockpit holes in the
fiberglass.  They are interesting other respects.  They have air
sponsons alongside the entire inside perimeter of the boat!!  These are
meant to give you some level of flotation.  They are tied on along
inside along each side with captive cords fiberglassed in...thus the
sponsons could be replaced or repaired if damaged.  The footbrace system
has about four or five adjustments.  It consists of two rails made of a
pliable material (which holds up well in its pliability as I have seen
them going strong in 15 year old boats).  The foot brace itself consists
of a metal bar that goes across through holes in both side rails.  To
prevent foot capture, the bar is mounted quite low so it is impossible
for your toes to slip and get caught.  (I saw a Bavaria double over the
weekend and it rekindled my respect for the marque.  I think I will try
to replicate the system for a footbrace in my Nautiraid Raid 1.)

The singles are like other hardshell singles except that they have that
footbrace and sponsons setup I mention earlier.  The boats are real
stiff and thus fast.  I forget the model, but there is one in the under
15 foot range that is particularly fast in the hands of a good paddler. 
One of our fastest recreational paddler around here has one that he
bought used some 10 years ago.  He manages some incredibly fast long
trips with it, like an under 6 hour circumnavigation of Manhattan, quite
a feat since a race last year was won by a fellow in surfski in just a
little over 5 hours for the 30 mile course.

If I had not gotten waylaid by the siren call of folding kayaks and
convenient kayak storage had been available locally, I would have bought
the particular Bavaria model or a slightly longer one, which I really
liked and was quite inexpensive.

ralph diaz
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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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