$1000/year
I guess I wasn't clear in my original post, each year the rental cost is about $1K. Our trips are 21-24 days long, and require the outfitter to meet us at launch and on return. It's expensive, but the local knowledge gained from outfitters is invaluable. That is most definitely in the equation.
edit: This post was meant for cd1...it's a bit confusing to reply to a past post.
Lyn
very nice
Thank you so much for the kind offer, I may take you up on it sometime this winter. The value of this board is really incredible.
Lyn
Lyngo
You need to ask yourself a few questions:
1: Will the folder be your primary boat
if yes: go for the top of the line feathercraft
if no: go for either a folbot or Yost do it yourself
2: if the answer above is no then is ease of assembly and speed of assembly a major factor or is it a one time thing at the beginning of the trip?
if ease of assembly and being able to set up in minutes then pick the folbot
if assembly is a one time shot for a week long trip then either will do just fine depending on how well you built the yost boat.
Outfitters for the most part are happy to talk to you and any advice or local knowledge is always invaluable.
It takes me about an hour to put together my Yost Sea Cruiser and about 15 minutes to put together the folbot cooper. The folbots and the feathercrafts all have sponsons to tighten the skin and help form the hull shape. the yest folders do not (except for the inflatable sonnet) but I did put in 15ft folbot sponsons into my Sea Cruiser for the trip to Brazil for the additional stability for picture taking but this certainly altered the hull shape and speed. Much faster boat without the sponsons rounding out the hull and much more like a traditional skin on frame.
Let us know what you will ultimately decide to do.
what I would recommend is that you build a wood frame yost boat first, put a #10 canvas duck skin on it (Walmart 35 bucks) some linseed oil or rustoleum to seal the skin and try it out. you will only be out a few bucks and you can tell if that kind of boat is what you are looking for. You can outfit it any way you like (I like to use a paddlefloat as a backrest)
Paul
not handy
I find reconstructing Ikea furniture a challenge, so ease of set up is important. But I’ll only need to set it up once/year for my summer trip and it’s a vacation so I can spend several hours scratching my head, cussing, and getting the thing together.
More important is toughness (my trips almost always involve paddling around thick ice) and carrying capacity (need to carry ~3 weeks of food and cold weather gear and sometimes water).
This will definitely not be my primary boat. In NYC, where I live, we have a lovely boathouse right on the water. The folder will live in a closet aside from the 3 weeks/year, at least for the foreseeable future.
Lyn
Oh…
If you’re interested in a Cooper, my buddy here has one for sale. He’s not active on this board so if you’re interested, send me an email & I’ll give you his contact info. Good luck!
Wow…
The Long Haul will carry ~95 kg more than the K1.
You might enjoy Gail Ferris’ comments on the Long Haul page: http://tinyurl.com/yfusvfs
I’ve exchanged emails with her - pretty cool person.
This was why we bought folders
(Feathercrafts) early on. Take a couple trips a year, or even one and after a few years it adds up. We went Feathercraft because we didn’t want the venue to be limited to what the boat can handle.
Dogmaticus
Always
Good to have a tough skin 
Feathercraft have the toughest on the market. they take a little longer to assemble, but the design is well thought out and sturdy for a folder.
Worth the time, even though it would be nice to do it in 10 min:)I have a Khatsalano and it takes me about 45 min to assemble…unless it’s been too long between:)
Best Wishes
Roy
I thinke we can …
…do a Tilley for the boy and keep him from getting banned, don’t you?