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Site last updated January 18, 2010
last updated November 2, 2003
| Let's start with the
disassembled boat in the
bag. Three bags, actually; one for the hull, one for longerons and
other frame parts, and one for ribs, seat, boomerang and so forth. Lots
of room in those bags. Mark makes them large so you can carry all your
paddling gear- or all your camping gear- together with your boat.
There's easily room for a couple of paddles, a PFD, float bags and so
forth. |
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| And here's what it all looks like unpacked.
Pretty similar to the Klepper, but with some significant differences.
Note the access hatches, and the seat. There's an extra rib, and two
more rods as well. Off to the right you can see one of the canvas bags that protect the wooden parts. These do add weight and bulk, but they protect the parts from scraping against each other and make it much easier to pack and unpack. Of course on an expedition you could leave them at home. |
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| Like the Mark-II, the Mark I uses Long Haul's
improved method of attaching the bow and stern pieces to the floor.
It's very similar to the Folbot assembly method. |
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| 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. (This is a shot of the Mark-II, but the
Mark-I construction is identical) Mark tells me he's experimenting with making that clamp from a T-6 corrosion resistant aluminum to save a little weight. |
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| 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. (Also a Mark-II shot) |
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| 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 ;-) (Mark-II) |
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| 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.) Ralph Diaz and I differ on whether the Klepper or the Long Haul fittings are faster to use. The Long Haul requires you to use two hands; you join the fitting, hold it together and then pull the cotter through. The Klepper locks automatically. But I find that the wider slots on the Long Haul make it easier for me to join the pieces in the first place. In any case, the actual time difference is small. (Mark-II photo) |
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| 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. I do think disassembly is faster with the Long Haul. The Klepper fittings hold more strongly when they're under tension, but the Long Haul fittings are held by the cotter, so even the most stressed rib releases as easy as the least stressed one. (Mark-II) |
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| Now here's a piece that puzzled me at first... until I remembered I had seen something very similar, a prototype that Mark had made last year. Can you guess what it is? |  |
| It's something Klepper owners have been needing
for a long time- an adjustible foot rest. Height and
front/backplacement are adjusted by means of straps that fasten around
and to
the frame parts with Fastex buckles. It's a nice system. Mark tells me
these foot rests are now shipping with the Mark-II as well, and can
easily be
retrofitted to Kleppers by owners. |
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|
And the finished boat, complete with spray deck and all my
gear aboard. Took me about 30 minutes, starting with the boat in the
bags, taking my time and delivering a continuous narration to some
interested onlookers. With any new wood framed boat you want to take it
easy the first time as the longerons have yet to take a set. The second
time out it went much faster. Working side by side with my friend John,
who was assembling my Klepper, I finished installing the spraydeck
while John was inserting ribs 2, 3 and 4.. I didn't quite get it
down to 20 minutes, but as usual I was doing a running commentary and
Q&A for a number of children and adults watching. One thing that did make it easier: The coaming, rather than
being shaped from a single piece, like the Klepper, is actually made of
two glued up laminations. This allows it to be made with a curve molded
in. |
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| And here we see my Klepper Aerius I (left) and the Mark-I side by side. The boats appear almost identical from the outside, apart from the extra length and the access hatches on the Mark-I. (Part of the reason they look alike is that my Klepper has a number of Long Haul additions, like the wooden toggle handles, a Long Haul seat and the velcro tuckunder spraydeck.) For more details, see my mini-review at http://foldingkayaks.org/reviews.shtml |
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| John paddling the Mark-I, with me following in
the
Aerius-I. We're on Kent Lake, a 1,000 acre lake in Southeast Michigan.
The lake is about 6 miles long, which makes for some surprisingly
large waves in a strong wind. It's not unusual to find yourself
paddling over 2' waves. We're on the lee side of a narrow passage here
so we're paddling in relative calm. One thing Klepper owners might notice here is that the Long Haul rides a bit higher and more level in the water. I've notice that my Klepper single tends to ride slightly low in the stern. On camping trips I try to load my gear to balance this. |
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