Re: [Paddlewise] "no place to store a boat"

Surprise!!!  I bet you saw my name as the sender of this email and
guessed I was going to bring up all the virtues of compact, easy storage
of a folding kayak.  I bet you are expecting me to carry on about how I
have had as many as four kayaks in my New York apartment but nobody was
the wiser because they were all bagged and sitting in closets and behind
furniture.  But I am not going to do any of that.  Well, at least not
directly.

The most interesting set-up I have seen for storing a kayak indoors was
that for an assembled Klepper double.  Gail Ferris who now lives in
Greenland used to be a fixture in the New England kayaking community
while living in Connecticut.  Her small home was just a few hundred feet
from the water and so she kept her folding kayaks assembled inside her
home.

The double Klepper was setup on its wheeled cart with the stern end into
the front entrance vestibule to the house.  That way she could easily
wheel it out (she used the kitchen door for everyday entering and
exiting needs).  The rest of the boat went along one end wall of the 10
to 12 foot wide living room and into the bathroom through a doorway from
which the door had been removed and a curtain hung over for privacy.
Normal use of the bathroom was through a door from the kitchen area.
(Here single Klepper was up on webbing straps hanging from the ceiling
above the double Klepper but being only 15 feet long did not extend as
far as the bathroom.)

I stayed at her place on several occasions when interviewing her for an
article and doing some paddling in the Thimble Islands which were right
across from her put in.  The boat worked well in the bathroom.  I was
able to use the front deck of the Klepper to throw all my clothes on
when showering.  And when sitting on the throne, instead of reading
catalogs I could let my mind wander off in contemplation of the long
history of accomplishment of folding kayaks with one staring me in the
face. :-)

ralph diaz

ralph diaz 
-- 
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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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