All original material copyright 1997-2007 Michael J. Edelman unless otherwise noted. No material may be reproduced in any form without express written permission of the owner(s).

The Long Haul Mark-II kayak

A more in-depth look at the new Long Haul Mark-II. I hope to have similar articles on more kayaks over the next few months, time permitting. But this is the heavy paddling and biking season....

Let's start with the disassembled boat, right out of the bag. It looks a lot like a Klepper, with a few noticeable differences. See that white bag in the upper right? That's a canvas bag sewn into sections for protecting the larger frame pieces. A nice detail.
Here's a closeup of one of the modifications that really speeds up assembly and reduces pinched fingers. If you're familiar with the Folbot design, you'll recognize this system as similar. The bow and stern pieces simply slide into the floorboards.
And here's the assembled unit.
Note the differerences from the Klepper design. The upper stringer locks slides in from the side, and locks in securely by lowerering the stainless steel clamp. The angle of the joint means the stringer cannot loosen or pull up, yet a quick pull on the attached lanyard instantly releases it.
Attachment of the rods in similar to the Klepper and other classic designs, but uses a vinyl sleeve and stock hooks rather than a specially formed piece. This should make repair and replacement much easier.
Here's another major divergance from the Klepper design. The bottom of each Long Haul rib has a pair of stainless steel angles that simply slip into the slots provided. No latches required. Note also the large numbers- something I appreciate when I'm using my non-bifocal sunglasses ;-)
Here's a good shot showing Mark's new attachment system. The tab slides into the slot and the spring cotter pin is inserted.  It's very fast in practice. (Actually, the cable should come up from under the rib so it doesn't rub against the deck.)
The same system used to attach the sides of the frame. Just pull on the cotter pin and it's attached; push, and it's detached. The cable insures it stays with the boat.
The integrated rib #4 rudder pedal assembly. Clamping the rudder pedals into the Klepper can be a time consuming thing, and this system really helps speed up assembly. You can see the single piece of shock cork that runs behind the pedals, keeping them aligned and providing a return-to-center force. This is another big improvment over the old Klepper design. Also note the coaming hold-down fittings at either side of the central brace. These are well engineered, have only one moving part and work very well in practice.
Another shot of rib #4 showing the extra reinforcement on the top of the rib. This can be a weak point as the bow paddler often leans on this rib or sits on it when entering the boat. And note the slots and straps in the floorboards. The straps are for fastening the folding seats in place and again this is a solution that works very well and would be very easy to replace if the need arose. See that little bag velcroed to the center of the rib? It contains a couple of spare cotter pins for use in the very unlikely event that you lose or break one. Nice touch.
The Long Haul  hatch design. It's somewhat similar to the Feathercraft design but uses a ring sewn into the hull, a la the classic spray deck,  rather than the detachable rings used in Feathercrafts. It's an option, but if you plan to use your boat for camping I'd say it's a strongly recommended one. Makes loading and unloading gear much easier.
And here's the finished boat, with the Long Haul Velcro Tuck-Under spray deck attached. Total assembly time was around a half an hou with two of us working on the boat. (Rob had never assembled a Klepper but does own a Folbot Aleut). With familiarity I could see easily getting this down to under 20 minutes. A team of two should be able to do it in under 10 with practice and coordination.

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