This is by way of a general apology for not participating in these listserves over the last week or answering individual email. I have been away in Rosenheim, Germany at the opening of the new Klepper Museum and a visit with the new owner of Klepper and his management team. The Klepper Museum, officially part of the national museum system, is certainly worth a visit by any folding kayak enthusiast, or, for that matter, any kayaker since it vividly shows the roots of modern kayaking. On display are 32 Klepper and other early makes of folding kayaks (there are also display cases full of documents, books, brochures, etc from the different companies as well as other products Klepper was famous for such as raincoats and tents). About half the boats are just the frames but the rest are in their original skins dating back to 1929! I frankly did not expect to see so many kayaks with 70 year old skins. I knew that frames can last and last. I had seen nearly 90 year old frames at the Klepper factory that had later been destroyed in a fire in 1995 that burnt down the factory ( now moved and rebuilt in one of the other buildings of the huge Klepper complex of buildings that at one time employed 3,000 workers). But it is a lot to ask of a skin that it last more than about 30 years or so. Make no mistake on this; these were boats that had been really used rather than kept in boxes their entire lifetime. You could see where, for example, on one boat, the owner or subsequent users had messed up on assembly and put a slice into the deck (neatly repaired). Oh, I should add one boat to that number 32 above. At the opening ceremony, Herr Mandi (apologies, I don't have his full name; he is reverently just referred to as "Mandi"), a very successful German racer in the 1950s, donated his racing folding kayak to the museum. It turned out to be in perfect condition despite considerable hard use. When I arrived, the museum staff was rushing to get ready in time for the official opening last Friday and I jumped in to help assemble some of these very old boats. This gave me a first hand chance to see the way earlier folders assembled; complex, intricate but quite ingenious in concept and execution. As you go from one to another, you can follow the development over the years of frames, coamings and decks and the split off of branches from touring to more seaworthy vessels to specialized slalom and whitewater racing kayaks. It is like the archaeological charts of the genesis of the human species, only in this case it is of the century long emergence of kajakus, foldi. At the back of the museum, where the mentioned 1929 kayak is set up with a yawl sail rig (two-masted), is a wall of windows facing out on to a lovely river about 25 feet wide. It is the Mangfall River. Early Klepper ads said that you could pick up your boat at the factory and launch on the Mangfall. The ads went on to say that this small river would then take you to the Inn River which in turn flowed into the Danube leading you to the Black Sea and the vast world beyond. A most pleasant thought that seemed so tempting to try as I stood there among relics and deep traditions of this particular branch of the kayaking universe. 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." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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