@“Glenn MacGrady” Is that Huki an off-the shelf rig, or a custom mod? Seems like a logical thing to do, but I haven’t seen anything like it before.
@greyheron said:
@“Glenn MacGrady” Is that Huki an off-the shelf rig, or a custom mod? Seems like a logical thing to do, but I haven’t seen anything like it before.
I bought the Huki in 2005. It’s not a ski. It’s a standard Huki one-person outrigger canoe (va’a) model V1B, which is still available according to the Huki website. However, the layup was customized for me as were the design aesthetics.
The multicoloration on the main hull and ama is a batik pattern cloth that is inlaid into the lamination under clear gelcoat. I purchased the cloth and sent it to Huki Jude. He had never before tried a cloth lamination on an ama, but it worked out great. I chose a batik pattern because batik is Indonesian, and it was from around Indonesia that the great trans-Pacific migrations began thousands of years ago, probably in large outrigger sailing canoes.
Other customizations you can’t see in those pictures are 8" Beckson screw hatches that open from the cockpit into the fore and aft hulls for gear storage in those hulls. Jude had never before tried 8" hatches (only 6") and was reluctant, but I insisted because I could fit lightweight tents and camping gear through 8" openings. Each hatch has a removable day bag made of the same batik material, which looks aesthetically cool because the hatches are clear plastic and you an see the batik pattern through the closed hatches.
Other customizations were the C-clips on the rear iako to hold a spare paddle, which is a lifetime habit for me, and box-X bungees on the front and back decks, which I copied from seakayak outfitting. It also has venturi drains in the footwells, which I usually keep closed with rubber stoppers.
Huki Jude told me it was a tradition to give an outrigger canoe a name. So mine is the Tahoe Batiki. Lake Tahoe was my first trip in the canoe, and “Batiki” is a portmanteau word I created to combine “batik” with “Kon-Tiki”, which was Thor Heyerdahl’s trans-Pacific raft.
I designed and purchased this va’a without ever having paddled one or even seen one in person. I was sick of my eight year flirtation with seakayaks, and wanted a fast open canoe with ocean going capabilities that didn’t require a roll for self rescue. I drove from Connecticut to Sacramento to pick the boat up, and spend eight weeks paddling the Tahoe Batiki all alone all over the west coast, Sierra Nevada mountain lakes, Oregon, Yellowstone, BWCA, Canada, Lake Huron, the Adirondacks, and other places.
More than you wanted to know, but I got caught up in reminiscing. Haven’t used the Huki in several years now.
On the Lewis River in Yellowstone:
This is my Gumotex Swing 1 (Innova for all you Yanks 
). It’s very light, only 11 kg, and sets up in 7 minutes. It’s also quite quick and a joy to paddle. 310cm long, 87cm wide.
It looks like a Seaward Passat G3 from Canada. They make great kayaks.
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Can I show off my “new to me” trailer? It’s an aluminum Trailex SUT-350-S that the previous owner used for a 22 foot tandem. Makes my 17.5 foot Pygmy Coho look kind of small. I’ve modified the trailer since the photo was taken. It’s now 3 feet shorter and has a small utility box in back with kayak load bars on top of the box.
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Woah! Love the yellow of Valley’s boats. And you don’t see a lot of ravens here. Looking to get a used Sirona rm myself.
Been down to one sea kayak, this SKUK Pilgrim Expedition. It is for sale, but I’ll still be paddling…a surf ski which is not yet here.
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My chesapeake at camp.
Another one of my boats. Another 17 footer. Fiberglass and the tag inside says it’s Canadian made but I have no idea of model or manufacturer. This thing hauls a lot! Wish I had a better picture of it on this computer.
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my fleet
3 bells, Northwind 16rx with center seat/yoke, Magic blackgold wood , Bucktail fiberlar wood
5 current designs kayaks for friends and family to use.
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Skyview, where and how do you paddle that nice looking Bucktail? Do you like it?
I recently finished reading all the old Forest and Stream 1880s issues featuring George Washington Sears’ articles; “The Bucktail in Florida”
( under his pen name ‘Nessmuk’).
Sitting low in my Bucktail was difficult, so a GRB Newman tractor seat and pedestal (9 inch sliding travel) at 4.25 inches height has been perfect, while allowing effective single paddle use.
I use it on small lakes and Mississippi river backwaters (I 80 and Mississippi river area). I like sitting in the bottom single blade. It is fun to paddle. At 290# I am to heavy for the boat or I would have a seat in it. It would probably be a keeper if I was 50# lighter. I bought it for my teenager and then he lost interest. I am looking at selling the magic and bucktail to get a boat better suited to my size. Mean while I really enjoy paddling them both.
I have two kayaks that I bought in the mid 70’s, both 33 lbs and 14 foot long, 24 inches wide. My favorite by far and the one I’ve put thousands of miles on is the Clearwater Whitewater (dunno why they called it that, it’s a touring boat) on the left. The other is the Phoenix Appalachian on the right, kevlar layup. This photo is from Isle Royale in 1980. Farthest they’ve been is down the Missinaibi to Moosonee.
I managed to wear a hole thru the hull of the Clearwater with my right heel. My patch attempt failed but Gorilla Tape fixed it nicely. On the Appalachian the cockpit/seat is partly separated from the hull. I still use that big blade paddle for quick workouts.
Last year I got an Epic 18X and I’m paddling more now than I did before; our mild winter helps. Had to replace the seat (what were they thinking?) but otherwise it is superior to the Clearwater. With the Clearwater I was constantly paddling uphill against the bow wave, not so on the Epic. I did find out that it’s a lot harder to lift the 40 lb Epic onto my car after a long paddle than it was to lift 33.
WS Tarpon 135T. We’ve had it for—coming up on— 3 years now. Took it out solo for a 40–mile, guy’s multi-day float for the first time last summer on the Current River in the Eastern Ozarks in southern Missouri. W/ nearly all of the gear sitting up front, it made the solo-paddled tandem decently manageable.
That said, my son (7) has now outgrown the feasibility of sitting between my wife & myself. SOOOO … I was extremely disappointed (sarcasm) to have to add another boat to our family collection(!).
Backordered since January—I cannot WAIT to finally receive my—I mean OUR ; )—new Dagger Katana 10.4! Hopefully it fits the bill as self support, multi-day excursion vessel that will allow me to enjoy the numerous spring-fed flat water gems in Missouri, whilst allowing me to fulfill my growing urge to spread my wings into class lll–lV whitewater rivers such as the St. Francois & North Fork of the White River here in Missouri. 
Paddler56…, are your two older boats skin on frame?