Foldable Kayak

[Nautilus]

I had the pleasure of meeting and befriending some expedition kayak enthusiasts at MacRitchie Reservoir last Sunday.

This is indeed a rare sight!


Fixing up the foldable kayak


Getting in


TC smiles for the camera


the foldable kayak

I was also graciously offered the chance to take it for a spin. Perhaps I am too used to hard shell kayaks and higher sitting in racing kayaks, I find myself slightly uncomfortable, but such low sitting will probably be more stable in open water conditions. The kayak tracks surprisingly well enough for a foldable, but as the footrest (which comes with the kayak) was not installed, hence I find it harder work to paddle. Best of all one can carry it anywhere as it all fits into a backpack weighing a total of 16kg. Assembly took 25-30min, but with familiarity, one can probably do it under 20min.

If you are wondering, yes this kayak is of the same brand as Cahayabulan's. If you are interested, you can ask him about it. Lastly, I like to thank TC and HL for the fun experience!

[dwkayaks]

Ahoy  Nautilus,,, those are nice piks of T C and a foldable kayak .

Often, I have thought about, some kind of packable kayak, that we could transport on a moto, a bus, or in a car.

My preferance is toward a nesting 3 piece hard shell sea kayak, but these only seem to be manufactured one by one, when a need arises.

The soft shell or foldable sea kayak, definately has it's place in our sports bag , but I yearn for a more durable craft.

I am wondering, just what is your knowledge of sea kayak construction, here, in Asia ?

You must have discovered that a foldable soft shell kayak, will need a 4 piece, paddle, inorder to pack,  in a back-pak bag .

Did you ever wonder, just why the foldable soft shell kayaks cost more than f/g hard shell kayaks ?

In Hawaii , I have seen special side racks mounted on motor bikes, to carry surfboards,,, could not the same carrying style be used to carry nesting hard shell kayak pieces ?

Wanting a better portable sea kayak,,, I am ,,,,,  Douglas

[Nautilus]

hah Douglas, I guess one cant really have it both ways. 

Well, I doubt a sea-going hardshell will be as light as as a surfboard, not to mention the length. I do want a kayak to be more portable too. That's for sure!

Short of collapsible or foldable, I don't think one has a choice unless you are going for those recreational fishing kayaks featured in the other post. Then you will need a rack on you vehicle, and a dolly to lug the boat around. Singapore, though surrounded by water, is not terribly kayak-friendly.  hehe...

perhaps in Hawaii.....

[cahayabulan]

hey doug,

I believe foldables are really the most durable of sea kayaks. I am saying in in terms of expedition worthiness. It is a craft that anyone will know how to repair in the field or on the sea. Just like a human body with the bones and flesh, parts can be replaced or patched. They do last a lifetime if you ever only want one boat.

The 'new' materials like f/g and plastic are really hard to repair. While f/g is easier, plastic are impossible to repair. Bended plastic straightened with a hairdryer, but broken plastic can't be repaired.

In terms of durability and impact resistance, my guess would be:

durability
1) foldables (30+ years)
2) f/g (15+ years)
3) plastic (8+ years)

Impact resistance
1) plastic, 2)foldables, 3)f/g

 

[dwkayaks]

Hi  Nautilus, T Y , for your reply above and your reply to my query about 2 star certification.

The packable nesting polyethlene kayak has been made, some 200 on a limited production run, designed by the principal of Ainsworth Paddles in the UK.

That 3 piece 16' sea kayak, named "Horizon 3 " didn't sell well, and Ainsworth soured on the idea, and won't talk about it any more,,,, drats !

The kayak was designed to unbolt the two end sections from the middle section.

Then the whole back deck of the aft section was unbuckled and lifted off.

At the aft end of the middle section , cockpit coaming was enlarged, which allowed the aft section to slip inside and rest on the floor of the middle section.

Then the bow section slipped inside the sections that were already nested together.

These nested pieces were stored in a canvas bag with end wheels,  aproximately 1' thick X 2' wide X 5.5' long.

Assembly time I guess to be a few minutes .

These kayaks were sold in Canada and Australia around 1998 , and I saved the web page advertisement, but alas , it seems that no one has put this type of nesting kayak back into production, at least not yet.

Since 4 piece paddles have been perfected, why not a hard shell sea kayak, too ?

Douglas

[dwkayaks]

Hi  Cahayabulan ,  T Y  for reminding me about the repairability and durability of foldables,,,, I see your point,,,, and you are correct .

Where I used to paddle along the California coast near San Francisco, we often had surf landings on barnicle covered rock cobble shores.

You wouldn't believe some of the very deep scrapes our plastic sit inside and sot's suffered from, especially when our kayaks were loaded with camping gear and we had to drag them out of the surf zone over encrusted rocks.

That is what I consider "bruttle" punishment for a sea kayak, and no one would suject their $ 5 K expensive foldables to those conditions.

So we pretty much paddled polyethlene sea kayaks for durability reasons and of course they only cost $ 800 each back then.

Ideally, it would be great to have a kayak of each type for the conditions we end up paddling in, and of course some wealthy paddlers do own a "quiver" of different kayaks.

Do you know why Nautilus said , " Singapore....... is not terrably kayak friendly " ?

Douglas

[Vault Boy]

haha i will want to hazard a guess about nautilus's thinking. He may say that due to current inaccessibility of waterways and the safety issues imposed thus far. Previously it has been a more laissez-faire environment. The whole matter may have been compounded by a series of drowning incidents the past year. Safety is important, I do not dispute, but non-accessibility because of safety, plus no avenue open to provide accessibility with safety measures, kills the sport. I like to cite the example of pandan river.

[dwkayaks]

Hi  Vault Boy,  after reading some of the archives, yes, I can understand what Nautilus might conclude about Singapore being unfriendly to us kayakers.

Access to beaches and waterways were also a very big concern where I used to paddle,,,, we had similar problems with the authorities and legislation as you have here, and mostly for the same reasons, of accidental drownings.

We paddlers back there, were not successful at defending our access problems, and had to move our put-ins and take-outs to avoid citations and fines.

So if this is really the problem here,,,, I have to agree with Nautilus,,, that Singapore is "unfriendly to Kayakers" !

Douglas 

[Nautilus]

haha i will want to hazard a guess about nautilus's thinking. He may say that due to current inaccessibility of waterways and the safety issues imposed thus far. Previously it has been a more laissez-faire environment. The whole matter may have been compounded by a series of drowning incidents the past year. Safety is important, I do not dispute, but non-accessibility because of safety, plus no avenue open to provide accessibility with safety measures, kills the sport. I like to cite the example of pandan river.

exactly what i meant. but then again, i meant kayak-friendly in the sense like the term user-friendly, not downright hostile. Things are just not in place... at least not yet, but we are still paddling anyways, right? Cahayabulan has started this programme for kayak-owners to be recognised and allowed access to waterways. It is actually a pretty neat idea, but I will let him say his piece. Yeah that Pandan river issue has been on my mind as well.

[cahayabulan]

Since my name is mentioned....

Singapore is kayak friendly because it is located in what I think is one of the most amazing places to kayak - Southeast Asia. With just my kayak and a little water, I can go anywhere to explore thousands of islands, caves, lakes, rivers, etc etc. Too many to imagine. And with this weather, I can paddle anytime. There is freedom.

We also have 5 Government-run kayak centers around the coasts, rental units at reservoirs, storage facilities at Kallang or at any of the Marinas or sailing clubs. Cheap compared to other cities.

Singapore is kayak-unfriendly, when no one thinks the sports club is too far, no time, paddling is dangerous, reading up regulations is too troublesome, etc. The obstacles seem endless... and the infrastructure should be better - ramps and storage at popular waterways, paddle trails, night paddling facilities. Kallang is derelict.

I hope these drawbacks would not stop paddlers from enjoying paddling. "I feel like paddling there today, and perhaps go further." This should need no convincing...

Now, what I lacked is a house by the beach (with storage for 10 kayaks and a timber deck private jetty), and a 10-liter, 4-wheel, 7 meters SUV... !