kayak
surfski (an old article)
Would be nice, since, when I make it to 90 (which, by that time, will be the new 70) I’ll be able to carry the dang thing.
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And the price . . .
I wonder why a balsa end core plywood in the laminate hasn’t been tried for making a lighter stiffer kayak? My wood stitch and glue kayak is stiffer and lighter than my fiberglass composite kayak.
Although there is the possibility that water intrusion would damage the wood as with any wooden boat.
Volume is critical in a kayak. Balsa would take allot.
Balsa is used in offshore race boats all the time.
Kayaks use coremat much thinner to stiffen the bottom.
Old Town used balsa as a core in their Canadienne canoes made with kevlar too.
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New carbon? I thought that graphene was an allotrope of carbon.
It is, chemically, as are diamonds.
Physically, quite different, of course.
CWD could make a poem about canoe diamonds.
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I’m leaning towards Basalt Innegra as the next big thing. Seems almost bulletproof and doesn’t need large amounts of epoxy to wet out.
No matter what the epoxy is the heaviest part of it.
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Paddles under pressure.
Hit the switch rates to Textreme!
Mallapropes in allatropes,
rounding diamonds graphs the fiend.
And then again where’s carbon,
that ain’t been there before?
Once wood, once coal, press down, from hole,
push water, up frees soul.
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In Time and Space far Past.
Green and Brown, Clear and Black,
Dust from Stars Exploding.
For as Long as It can Last.
Atomic Blocks of Life and Death,
Mixing and Transforming.
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I’m glad winter is fading.
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It is?
Where?
In my back yard.
This Great Blue is trying to catch the goldfish in my water garden. It’s 68 and sunny.
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I would go look and see if there was a cool bird outside my window, ----------- but the one in the kitchen and the shop windows are covered with snow drifts. I shoveled them out a while ago, but the wind just blew more in again.
This is cool to see another brand enter the ultralight kayak market, and an actual touring kayak it appears.
In terms of UL kayaks, the Kai Wa’a “Pro” series are lighter at around 8.2kg (18lbs) and have been around a few years now. My friends have several of them and they are stupid light. Like, lift off a SUV V rack with one hand.
And the more impressive thing is they lose little in terms of strength (to shed 2 lbs compared to the regular model, they remove 1 layer of carbon at the bow and stern, and do not paint or gelcoat the boat).
Also the Vega is 2 feet longer than the boat in the article while being lighter, using pre-preg fabric, and being monocoque construction (seamless!). They are made in china by Ozone, one of the primer carbon layup factories in the world. This layup is the same as is used in Sail GP foiling yachts and to my knowledge is the only factory to use this advanced method on production watercraft. So the bombastic claims in the article are quite overblown, but are cool and significant advancements in kayak technology none the less. Now the question is “can it scale” successfully similar to Ozone.
Kai Wa’a is releasing a 20.5" beam version of the Vega very soon, in addition to the existing 16.9" and 18.5" versions. That should be stable enough for low-intermediate or high beginners to be comfortable on, and will be available in the 18lb pro version. (Maybe even 17lb because its shorter…?), so this could make a nice kayak for weight-limited folks.
I’m surprised that adding nanoparticles of graphene to the resin (I think that’s what this is) makes the boat that much stronger.