Hello Everyone, My name is Miguel Arboleda. I am a 38 year-old German-Filipino living in Tokyo, Japan, and have been doing sea kayaking along the coasts and rivers here for the past eight years, mostly with my Nautiraid Raid 1 MK-1. I don't get out often enough to really call myself a bonifide paddler yet, but I hope to get out and travel more with my kayak, in Japan and abroad. Ever since I first tried out a polyethylene sea kayak in Rhode Island back in 1989 I have been in love with this sport. Next to mountain walking and bicycle travel, I feel it is the best way to see the world. I am thinking of buying a new kayak, one that is smaller and easier to carry around. Most likely I will get the Feathercraft K-Lite Plus (though there is a Japanese kayak, the Arfeq 415, produced by Mont-Bell, the Japanese mountain equipment company, that also looks intriguing), but I've been wondering a lot about inflatable sea kayaks. I know many people are going to poo-poo them, but after reading about Audrey Sutherland's solo voyages I wonder if maybe they have something to offer. I am looking particularly at the Aire Sea Tiger II (so that my wife can join me and I can get out on my own, too) or the Grabner Dolphin 1, Explorer 1, and Explorer 2. Would anybody out there know anything about these inflatable sea kayaks and how they might perform? Would inflatable sea kayaks not even be a serious option? I'd appreciate any wisdom you could share...<(^J^)> Hope to hear from you soon. -- Miguel Jorgensen Arboleda Talking Tree Journeys butuki_at_gol.com eyes to see, hands to touch, legs to walk, and a mind under the sky *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Miguel Jorgensen Arboleda wrote: > I am thinking of buying a new kayak, one that is smaller and easier to > carry around. Most likely I will get the Feathercraft K-Lite Plus > (though there is a Japanese kayak, the Arfeq 415, produced by Mont-Bell, > the Japanese mountain equipment company, that also looks intriguing), > but I've been wondering a lot about inflatable sea kayaks. I know many > people are going to poo-poo them, but after reading about Audrey > Sutherland's solo voyages I wonder if maybe they have something to > offer. I am looking particularly at the Aire Sea Tiger II (so that my > wife can join me and I can get out on my own, too) or the Grabner > Dolphin 1, Explorer 1, and Explorer 2. Would anybody out there know > anything about these inflatable sea kayaks and how they might perform? > Would inflatable sea kayaks not even be a serious option? I'd appreciate > any wisdom you could share...<(^J^)> Look at http://paddlermagazine.com/reviews/tourinfl.htm and http://paddlermagazine.com/reviews/inflate.htm reviews, personally I use an Helios380 with a modified rudder, price and weight is half of a Sea TigerII, may be quality too, but I don't use it in Oceanic expedition. Cheers, Giuseppe Phone: +39-043255-8212 University of Udine - Department of Physics Fax: +39-043255-8222 via delle Scienze, 208 - 33100 UDINE URL:http://www.fisica.uniud.it/~cabras *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:32:59 PDT