Re: [Paddlewise] Boat(s) For A Family of Four

From: <FoldingBoats_at_aol.com>
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 10:19:17 EDT
In a message dated 4/29/2003 10:51:50 PM Eastern Standard Time, al.m_at_3web.net 
writes:

> ... Additional advantage of folding doubles is their flexibility of interior 
> due to open cockpit.  On the flat water (trips with small kids mostly will 
> be just that - dead calm water) such cockpit can be used without a 
> sprayskirt, which makes easy to place a third paddler.  There are also such 
> rarities as Russian 3-seater "Taymen", if there still be a need to gather 
> all the family in one boat. I have to say - if Klepper Quattro is a barge, 
> then Taymen-3 is an aircraft carrier :-).  It must be able to accomodate 4 
> adults, since most of such folding doubles can accomodate 2 adults + 
> teenager or 3 adults, though 3rd adult is a pure passenger. ...

Good points, Alex. Our family "aircraft carrier" has been a Neva-III 
(triple), which might be considered the successor of the old Taimen. We have 
paddled with two families of four on Long Island Sound in one of each on a 
few occasions: A couple of hours on the water, lunch break on one of the many 
islands and then a couple of hours back to the cars. 

The cockpit (with the spray deck left off) has paddling room for three adults 
and two kids on a nice day; we've sailed it (with outriggers and without the 
spray deck) with two adults and four pre-teenage kids. In rainy weather, or 
when you expect to take water over the side of the boat, using the deck makes 
life somewhat more pleasant for all concerned. Our two kids still work well 
enough together to put up with sharing the forwardmost cockpit opening under 
those conditions. 

With me sitting in the stern, most of the day trip gear forward of my feet, 
my wife sitting midships and the kids up front, the boat ends up trimmed 
slightly by the stern. In that configuration I do not even need to use a 
rudder (neither for directional stability nor as an aid for changing 
direction). 

Paddling that boat with three adults, as it was designed to do, works well. 
Four adults would be a bit of a squeeze, I reckon ...

:-)

Best regards,
Ralph

Ralph C. Hoehn

Folding Boat Center
P.O. Box 700
Enfield NH 03748

info_at_FoldingBoatCenter.com
www.FoldingBoatCenter.com

phone: +1-802-649-2555 -- Ralph
phone: +1-603-632-9500 -- Alv     (yup, they rhyme)

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Received on Wed Apr 30 2003 - 07:19:59 PDT

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