Christov_Tenn wrote:
Well, I bought the RZ96 today. It should arrive at our destination before we get there.
The boat actually arrived today at our home in Tennessee. I did get out on the water in Indiana, but in an outfitter's SOT. Still a pleasant experience. And I spent most of yesterday paddling and exploring parts of a large lake unfamiliar to me in the E68.
No time yet to assemble it, but I took all the parts out and looked at them. Had trouble folding up the rear gunwales to lay flat, probably I have a functional limitation in the area of spatial relations. Everything looked in good shape with the exception that one of the plastic clips on rib number seven is partially broken. I may Gorilla Glue it while trying to get a replacement part. I think it looks like it will be easy to assemble, but I may find the inner and outer coaming + rear crosspiece baffling.
The hull is all supple and shiny black, smells clean almost like new, nothing like scarred but hardy skin of my E68. Deck's a nice deep blue canvas with hatches, perimeter lifeline, bow and stern bungie rigging, hatches. The Pouch branded spraydeck appears to be sound and in excellent condition. The RZ's seats appear somewhat better cushioned than the seat that came with the E68. Also in the boxes were two Zolzer float bags and a small hand pump to inflate them and the kayak's sponsons.
As to the bags, the long "backpack" bag is unlikely to ever be used as a backpack while containing the boat's long pieces. I will probably buckle the skin and long bags together and move them around using a Folbot cart I've got in the boat-shed. It may be a challenge to get this boat in the 850, even with the back seats folded forward.
I'll assemble it later this week and take some pictures after I've done the adult thing, deferring gratification by mowing the lawn and washing the car spattered with Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee bugs. We're planning to paddle that lake I mentioned above on Saturday morning, so maybe some pictures then, too. No bug pictures.
Chris