Hi, I have never paddled an Khatsalano in surf, but only in more or less flat water, but I recognised the bending of the hull even in small waves. Some people think of this as a feature, but I prefer stiff folding kayaks. It is not a big deal to build stiff folding kayaks, but it will when production costs come in place. The necessary joints have more parts whichs rises costs and the demanded overall precision while building process increases. Deck hatches must not fail, under all circumstances, otherwise they have to be banned from boatbuilding. I read that during a cruise which started in the cold morning a VCP hatch cover popped away because of the sunlight which supported enough warmth to overpressure the compartment. This goes by the maxime, "know your gear", so drill a microhole in the bulkhead or don't use the metal fastener delivered as a headwear. ;-) (Are they still included?) The speed thing has to be answered by someone more experienced than me. A friend of mine paddled 450km on the Baltic coast in 12 days with the loaded boat, reaching average speeds above 4 knots. Should be fast enough depending on the paddler. Load distribution is critical in all boats, I think that is why glassed boats have bulkheads? A folding kayak also looses lots of space because of it's framework, so it's expedition capabilities will suffer in comparison to a hardshell kayak. The seasock was an annoying experience for me, as the one I built did not work as it should. The in-and-out-procedure became a mess, never want to be in duty to make an alarm start or surf landing with it. But the most critical thing is the sealing of sock with the boat. Until now, I saw no satisfying solution for this problem. I will built a new one and will let you know about improvements ... ideas are welcome! In general I would state that a Seayak stands more abuse than my folding kayak, but my folding kayak looks much cooler, does it ?!! Bottom line: Choices, if you need a very-fast-surf-capable-easy-to-roll-good-to-trim-known-to-be good-seakayak where you can't buy or rent one: - buy a take-a-part boat ( some manufactures have this option, a question of your income ) - send your beloved well-worn and well-known kayak by ship or plane ( easy ey?, also only a question of your income, maybe it comes a bit late or damaged .......) - take a saw, rip your hardshell to pieces, take epoxy and glass with you and glue it together at the starting point (see Nigel Foster if I remember it right) Correct me if I am wrong, but for the price of a Khatsalano in Germany ( 9000,- DM that's about US$ 4100,- ) I think a take-a-part Nordkapp or similiar boat suits the hard-core-tsunami-rider much better ;-). Cheers, Gerald -- Gerald Maroske gum_at_exmail.de http://gum.exhome.de *************************************************************************** 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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