In a message dated 9/12/2002 3:33:05 AM Eastern Standard Time, teitelba_at_post.tau.ac.il writes: > JoshT: ... The only time we were questioned about it was by a security guy > in Frankfurt who wanted to discuss kayaking! (Ralphs: I even discussed the > Klepper "faltbot" [sp.?]) ... RalphH: The German term "das Faltboot" translated to "foldboat" in English about a century ago (the first US "Foldboat Club" was founded in New Jersey in 1927 already), which surely had some influence on the venerable brand name "Folbot" ... :-) The initially somewhat derogatory German term "der Hadernkahn", applied to above mentioned foldboats by the obviously uninitiated, translates loosely to "rag boat". Picture this (hypothetical! :-) scene: Harried New York City passer-by sees Ralph Diaz walking from subway to the Downtown Boathouse on the Hudson River. He's carrying a bag containing his sleek-to-be, but as yet disassembled and neatly packed, folding kayak. "What are you going to do with that BAG OF RAGS AND STICKS?" she asks, to which Ralph Diaz answers quick as a whip, "I'm going to turn it into my SEAKAYAK!" As Ralph, as usual, makes short work of making good on that promise, she watches in amazement, mumbling under her breath, "it's a RAG BOAT!" Incidentally, "Der Hadernkahn" is also the title of a beautiful pictorial history of "foldboating" by Ursula and Christian Altenhofer, which exhaustively traces the craft through its pre- and post-war heydays. Even if you have no intention of ever trying to decipher the German text (there's not that much of it), the book is worth buying for the pictures alone (there is an abundance of those)! (I have no stake in the book :-). What does this have to do with "flying with kayak gear to the WCSKS"? I'll be "testing" procedures at JetBlue next week, carrying with me some (too much!) of the gear we'll need at the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium. Foldboat alert: Folders on show at the WCSKS will include Ally (folding canoes by Bergans of Norway), Feathercraft (no introduction needed!), FirstLight Kayaks (new from New Zealand), Foldingcraft (Japanese folders), Folding Kayak Adventures (handy Feathercraft rentals), and Long Haul Folding Kayaks (Mark Eckhardt, formerly the "Klepper Service Center", will be showing his brand new "Mk-II" double folder). Under the banner of "Rag Boat Rodeo" we'll be joining the folder line-up on the beach with the Atlatl (new from China) and PouchBoats (I'm commercially affiliated with both of these), as well as samples by Triton (of Russia) and Pakboats (folding canoes from New Hampshire). http://www.wcsks.org/wcsks.htm They even allow non-folders at the WCSKS ... http://www.wcsks.org/2002exhibitors.html ;-)) September 20-22 in Port Townsend, WA. See you there! Best regards, Ralph Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com www.PouchBoats.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Sep 12 2002 - 05:35:07 PDT
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