Don't scorn me!

[jdupre']

Beekeeper told me I should fess up. I bought a PLASTIC kayak! Yes, a bright lime green plastic kayak.......and it's great. I was just not in the right frame of mind to build anything right now. I had some mad money from selling a bonsai tree and doing some leatherwork and decided to splurge.

Pelican Apex 10 , 10 feet long, 30 " beam ( and about 30" at the waterline), 40 lbs., sit-on-top. It's got a comfy, built-in adjustable seat and even came with a paddle. I've had it a couple of days and put 6 miles on it. It's noticeably slower than an UJ pirogue, but I'm slower these days too. It still moves right along though. Very stable with a bit of bow wag when paddling. The glide is surprising decent. NOT a 10 mile per day boat, though. It is refreshing to not worry about every scrape and scuff.

 

[oldsparkey]

What is this world coming to ....... Must be common sense.

When the wife retired we went over to one vehicle which put a damper on my trips and even making it to local rivers for float trips. Probably a good idea since our trips today , between the two of us , is to the doctors or the grocery store. I think i found a way to beat the system , just haven't taken the steps yep. The draw back is having to decide which way to go.
She could drop me off and then later ( say several days ) and pick me up down river.
A boat in a suitcase appears to be a good answer.
Sea Eagle inflatable Kayaks. Two models in the RazorLite series , one a solo boat and one a tandem boat. Leaning towards the 2 person since it has more room for a dry bag of camping gear.

Sea Eagle RazorLite™ inflatable kayaks - fast, sleek inflatable kayaks that pack in a bag.

Grab the World's 1st, fastest, lightest and most rigid drop stitch inflatable 1 and 2 person RazorLite iKs! Easy setup, ready in seconds, fits in a car trunk!

www.seaeagle.com

.

 

[PeteStaehling]

It looks a lot like the little sit on tops we rented when we were snorkeling in the keys. They were great fun. We could climb on and off in deep enough water that we couldn't touch bottom or where we didn't want to touch the coral. We cold tow them on a leash when snorkeling. We had a blast with them!

 

[jdupre']

What is this world coming to ....... Must be common sense.

When the wife retired we went over to one vehicle which put a damper on my trips and even making it to local rivers for float trips. Probably a good idea since our trips today , between the two of us , is to the doctors or the grocery store. I think i found a way to beat the system , just haven't taken the steps yep. The draw back is having to decide which way to go.
She could drop me off and then later ( say several days ) and pick me up down river.
A boat in a suitcase appears to be a good answer.
Sea Eagle inflatable Kayaks. Two models in the RazorLite series , one a solo boat and one a tandem boat. Leaning towards the 2 person since it has more room for a dry bag of camping gear.

Sea Eagle RazorLite™ inflatable kayaks - fast, sleek inflatable kayaks that pack in a bag.

Grab the World's 1st, fastest, lightest and most rigid drop stitch inflatable 1 and 2 person RazorLite iKs! Easy setup, ready in seconds, fits in a car trunk!

www.seaeagle.com

.

Chuck, that sounds like a great idea for your situation. Easy to store in the off season too.

 

[PeteStaehling]

I could see one of the two person inflatables in my future when the wife and I head out on the road when/if this pandemic ever gets under control enough that we decide to travel. We will likely be in a van type camper so space will be limited.

 

[Kayak Jack]

I don’t know if they are still being made - the SOAR brand was very good. SOAR stood for Somewhere On A River.

 

[oldsparkey]

I don’t know if they are still being made - the SOAR brand was very good. SOAR stood for Somewhere On A River.

YEP.... https://soar1.com/

Inflatable but not drop stitched. The drop stitch is what sold me on the Sea Eagles.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Not at all sure about WTH dropstitch is. The joints were heat sealed.

 

[oldsparkey]

The World's First and Only Kayak Made Entirely Of Drop Stitch Material

The patented Sea Eagle RazorLite™ High Performance Ultra Light Kayak is the world's first and only inflatable kayak made entirely with Drop Stitch Technology throughout! This kayak uses 3" Drop Stitch material for the floor and 4" Drop Stitch material for the side walls. Our Drop Stitch material uses thousands of high tensile strength threads connecting the top and bottom fabric layers, creating thousands of I-beam supports. This enables the RazorLite™ to be inflated to a much higher pressure (10 psi) than other kayaks (3-4 psi) which increases overall rigidity. The unique Drop Stitch construction makes the RazorLite™ as fast as any rigid kayak in it's class and provides the added benefit of being able to pack in its own backpack. The RazorLite™ is as tough as nails, incredibly rigid, ultra light, and a delight to paddle. U.S. Patent 9,452,809

 

[Kayak Jack]

Sounds good. The term of a drop stitch is misleading. In sewing, a dropped stitch is a faulty stitch, one that didn’t connect at all on one end. They’re using the term of drop stitch to describe a connecting stitch.

Their construction has to be very strong to withstand 10 psi; I admire that. I’ve seen inflatables trying to paddle upwind, with the wind lifting the front 2-3 feet of the bow up into the air. This boat sounds like it will hold its form well.

 

[beekeeper]

Beekeeper told me I should fess up. I bought a PLASTIC kayak! Yes, a bright lime green plastic kayak.......and it's great. I was just not in the right frame of mind to build anything right now. I had some mad money from selling a bonsai tree and doing some leatherwork and decided to splurge.

Pelican Apex 10 , 10 feet long, 30 " beam ( and about 30" at the waterline), 40 lbs., sit-on-top. It's got a comfy, built-in adjustable seat and even came with a paddle. I've had it a couple of days and put 6 miles on it. It's noticeably slower than an UJ pirogue, but I'm slower these days too. It still moves right along though. Very stable with a bit of bow wag when paddling. The glide is surprising decent. NOT a 10 mile per day boat, though. It is refreshing to not worry about every scrape and scuff.

View attachment 1565

Very close size to my son's "Bistineau" pirogue. Would you describe the hull as basically a flat bottom?
Most of the ones I have seen may have some form of creases or ridges but the footprint seems to me to be a flat bottom with soft chines.
You will enjoy the durability and little maintenance needed.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Come home from a paddle, hose it off clean. Every few years, use fine sandpaper to clean off the “fuzz” of scraped plasic.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Actually, the big thing to watch out for is strapping it down too tightly, and deforming the hull. Especially under hot, bright sun. Small deformations can often (not always) be mostly straightened using a hair dryer to soften the plastic.

 

[jdupre']

Bee, it's kinda hard to describe the bottom shape. Cross section-- fairly hard chines that start out concave with a 6" high by 6" deep rounded keel down the middle that narrows into a well rounded bow.

 

[beekeeper]

I have seen those kind. I guess my question is, do you think those shape features add much to the stability?

 

[oldsparkey]

This might help if I have picked the correct boat.

 

[jdupre']

I've come to the opinion that waterline width is THEE most important factor in stability. This boat has a waterline width very close to it's max beam. Can't really get more stability out of a hull than that. Now, people say that a wide, mostly flat bottom has a tendency to tip when leaned over hard. With an almost 30" waterline, you would have to do something GROSSLY dumb to get in that position. One thing though, a mostly flat bottom is more stable when used within it's parameters than a round bottom, which always feels a little skittish to me.

 

[jdupre']

I paddled about a mile and a half this evening. I'm learning the speed it prefers to go. I'd say it's a good, brisk walking pace......maybe 3 mph. For the same amount of work, my 16 foot pirogue went about 3.6 mph. The Swamper kayak went about 4.3 mph. 1.3 mph difference for WILDLY different hull shapes and size. Not earthshaking , by any means.

 

[Kayak Jack]

In flat water, a flat bottomed boat is quite stable. On waves of 10”-12”, they begin to get exciting. On, say, 15” waves the term “pucker factor” is an operational term.

In the waters surrounding the Great Lakes - generally the norttherly part of the eastern third of America, plus most of Canada - a semi rounded canoe or kayak with sides that flare outwards a few degrees (say, 10-15) is a very reliable cross section. While a flat bottom will roll back and forth as waves pass underneath, a semi round bottom simply rises up and down. As it is leaned, the flared sides progressively displace more water, giving a predictably progressive stiffervresistance to further roll.

And any boat can be capsized. Just ask me. ;-) sigh

 

[jdupre']

I'll stay out of 15" waves. Been there in a pirogue and it is, indeed, exciting.