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).
Site last updated July 4, 2008
I don't see any folding boats these days in UK, either because mine is the last one in existence or because any others are in places I don't visit. Anyway, in case you are interested, I bought mine from a friend's father who got it from someone else in Twickenham-on-Thames in or around 1947. So it is an original. Tyne had a manufacturing place nearby, at St. Margaret's. The original skin, which I have replaced unfortunately, was made by the chap who founded the Company (a German who fled the Nazis just before WW2 I think) and a really good fit it was too; better than its replacement which doesn't have a rudder post either. I think the reason why the poor fit is because the originator died and his skills died with him.
The boat framework is about 50 years old and follows the general layout you mention of stringers and frames with a coaming to stiffen the opening in the canvas for the cockpit and to keep out topside water. The boat sailed OK with a dipping lug-sail setup although the flat bottomed keel (no rocker) required a large turning circle making it hard work to turn in any narrow space. As I do remember the boat was super at sneaking up on fish and ducks and provided me with the best seat in the house to view our University boat race, and as you remark, having it stored in the trunk of a car just in case a nice piece of water appeared when on tour, meant that we didn't just have to admire a lake or a stream - we just got in and paddled off.
Strange thing about getting into a kayak: I always had to do this carefully but my wife still doesn't understand such things as balance, metacentre etc. but she never had any problems with this. I suppose it might be like riding a bike - you never forget your first attempt and if it was successful you just did it again and again. Anyway I am looking forward to re-living my ill-spent youth once more (if I can get hold of double-ended paddles long enough to span the wide beam of the cockpit - most available now are tailored to suit the narrower synthetic racing models much in favour these days) . Nice to know that folding boats are still appreciated by knowledgeable enthusiasts - all power to your elbow(s)!
Cheers for now, Philip E.Payne
I grew up in England during the war years (WWII) and after the war my father established a boat rental business on the river Thames near Windsor. He was approached by the owner of Tyne Folding Canoes and asked to be an agent for his product range and subsequently we had the complete range of Tyne folders on display in our boat house. These included open cockpit singles and doubles and an expedition single that had a round cockpit opening with an inflatable rim which the owner of Tyne folding used to demonstrate the art of the Eskimo Roll, the first time I had ever seen it performed. The company also produced folding dinghies, and I see that the Klepper service center in Colorado has just purchased a fleet of Klepper dinghies and is producing new hulls for them.
My memories of these folding craft resurfaced eleven years ago
when I
was looking to buy a boat but, living in an apartment, was faced with a
storage
problem. I have been the proud owner of a Klepper Aerius II since then
and
am looking to possibly purchase a new light weight single. The Klepper
always
reminds me of the Tyne product as it also had a blue cotton deck and
they
looked a lot alike. It's good to know that there are
I recently (11/01/2000?) received a very nice note from Dr. Van Til (author of The Danube Flows Through Fascism) which he gave me his permission to share with you here:
My name is Tord S Eriksson, and have lived in Gothenburg, Sweden, most of my life. As a folding kayak enthusiast one could say I'm a bit of a late starter as I bought my first folding kayak this year, a half year after my 50th birthday.
As long back as I can remember I've been interested in kayaks, but the first folding kayak I saw was an unusual one. It was part of a display of equipment used by the Swedish equivalent of SEALs, and was a steel tube-framed folding kayak, which was exclusively used by the attack diver teams. Its use was illustrated on the wall behind: A squad of military kayakists comes through a sound and as they approach their target, they all make half an Eskimo turn and disappear from the surface, as those folding kayaks certainly aren't buoyant! Before the guys do their half-roll they donned their scuba gear,of course. I might have been 14-15 years and was mightily impressed - I have a gnawing feeling that there was a Klepper Aerius II also on display,as those were used by their comrades in arms, the coastal rangers, but I was totally engrossed by that sinking boat.
About the same time I saw a film on TV about a young Eskimo and his life, which ended with him paddling away among small icebergs, and while in the heavy surf, ever so often doing an Eskimo roll, just to show off. It certainly made a deep impression!
In the early 70's a group of older friends went to Iceland, bringing their Kleppers with them - I couldn't afford the trip, but I sure longed to go! The pictures they brought back were breathtaking!
Then in the summer of '85 I got the chance of partaking in a paddling adventure. We, about twenty people, in singles and double kayaks of various designs, would paddle along Höga kusten, the most scenic and dramatic part of the Swedish Baltic coastline.
We spent three weeks at sea, just making landfall for cooking and sleeping,plus the occasional sight-seeing tour of the coastal villages and fishing communities.
The weather was very good, even a bit too good, but we had a day or two of heavy swells, a big adventure, but made it difficult to stay together, and one or two windy days, and some rain.
Most days I sat in the rear seat of an Aerius II, borrowed from the above mentioned coastal rangers! But I also tried various kayaks from the VKV range, both plastic and wooden.
I really loved the Klepper, especially in the swells, as it sped so sweet and silently down the steep waves, while the plastic kayaks were much noisier. We all were new to folding kayaks, but quite early found out that the best sitting position was high above the fixed seats, so we sat on top of our sleeping bags, or whatever we had handy.
The three weeks passed much too quickly, and I had paddling blues for quite a while.
I tried to cure it by buying a second-hand Seahawk, made by the previous owner during a kayak-building course. It wasn't too straight, too cramped for my bent legs and had a worn look, but it was mine! I enlarged the cockpit opening, added a rudder and a pretty nifty pedal system of my own design.The rudder bar's pivot was attached to a runner that ran freely on a sheet rail that was bolted through the kayak's bottom, while the lines connecting the rudder to the pedals ran through small blocks at the end of rudder bar, while the ends of the lines were secured to a lockable runner on the sheet rail. You moved the lockable runner to adjust the pedals. Thus, the pedals (i.e. the rudder bar) just had to be moved a little to get a lot of movement of the lines, thus low load on the lines, if you used a big enough rudder horn. The rest of the rudder system was unique in its design, but didn't add any improvements over an ordinary system, except that it was 100% water-tight!
Anyway, I soon found out that this was definitely not my type of kayak, so it eventually was given to a young kayak enthusiast - and he used it a lot!
During a visit to the UK '82 I stumbled on a book about the famous cockleshell heroes, the
British Navy's attempt with attack troops that paddled flat-bottomed folding kayaks from
Allied submarines up estuaries to attach mines on ships in French ports. As far as I can remember
from the book "Cockleshell Heroes" the success was very limited, and almost all involved were killed, or captured, or both.
Their folding kayaks looked more like today's surf kayaks, but the bottom and tops were made out of plywood, while the sides were canvas. A simple system of folded down ribs being erected a simple tug to make the flat-folded two-seat kayak into something looking somewhat like an over-size surf kayak.
Better were their diving canoes (powered, hard-shell and non-foldable), which was a greater success, as then the attack troops arrived in a much better form than after having paddled for days (hiding out in during daytime) and hopefully being able to return to the mother ship the same way. The diving canoes could be left on the bottom of the sea till the attack diver returned for his mission, and could then resurface at a safe distance from the target, to be able to quickly return to a safe haven.
In 1990 I had a serious motorbike accident in Scotland, and was practically off outdoor activities for over a decade. Bar a few short trips, walking a mile at the most, on crutches, to a favourite rock on a small island not far from where I live, where I and the friend used to watch the bird life for 24 hours, drinking white wine and cook on my MSR stove!
And I picked up a new hobby: R/C aircraft, so I did a lot of model airplane flying, designing and crashing during the 90's - something I enjoyed greatly. But that was it! No more trekking, no more walking with a 70 lbs backpack in our wild mountain ranges, where wolves, wolverines and bears again are seen. Finito, no more!
Then I met a lovely woman and she's now my wife and too boot she had been a keen canoeist when her kids were younger (the daughter recently celebrated her 30th anniversary!). She had sold off the old canoe when her first husband died and hadn't paddled since.
So when I happened to inherit a small sum of money the choice was easy: a brand new, red, Klepper Aerius II! It was delivered in August and we have already paddled lakes and estuaries, in the North Sea and in the Atlantic (or in coastal waters nearby), An old love rekindled, and now with a master paddler and an old Klepper enthusiast - could it be much better!
In May we return to Scotland for a three week tour in and around the Western Isles in our Klepper Theodor - I wish it sooner!
Yours,
Tord S Eriksson
tord@tord.nu
Hi all,
I recently praised the stuff from Chillcheater in the UK, and today it definitely saved my life, and my wife's!
While paddling in +5C waters near our home, we somehow turned topsy-turvy and were for a few secs totally immersed in the icecold water. Slowly the Chillcheater dry cag, and dry trousers filled with water, but it was actually after getting onto a little reef the cold really took hold -it is now a few degrees below freezing, so maybe it was 5-7 degrees then. The kayak drifted downwind while we tried to raise help from the shore - eventually a fishing boat, piloted by a veteran 76 years old, who had scuttled thrice in his 62 years as a fisherman - once he was the sole survivor!
He expertly manouvred his boat close to us and we could just step onboard, not much strength left by then. With the aid of a guy in a small open boat we managed to take the folding kayak, that had drifted a half a nautical mile downwind on tow. Getting the waterfilled boat out of the water proved to be a major problem, so we'll invest in an electric bilge pump as soon as possible! But we eventually got it out, after my wife had pumped a few hundreds of water out of it - I was just too shaky to do much just then.
She sat there with her feet immersed in the freezing water, pumping and pumping! Eeventually she was too cold to do any more, and with the help of bystanders we got it out.
All stuff were eventually retrieved, some more soggy than other - the alarm button to the car died totally, so we had to get a spare, in the other end of town, which took a lot of time, of course!
So, we are still in one piece, if terribly sore, totally thanks to Chilcheater in Devon, UK!
Yours,
Tord
I am usually fast asleep on the 2 hour flight from Osaka to Okinawa, being the last leg of a 24 journey from the States. This time i was wide awake, with the airplane sound system turned all the way up listening to Okinawan music. Had to restrain myself from singing out loud. After a couple of nights at Jim and Marie's place in Ginowan, I am ready to start. I put the Khatsalano together in the morning. After a lunch of sokisoba, they drive me over to Kadena Marina. Loading the boat seemed an impossible task at first but went fairly smoothly. Sent some extra clothes home with Jim, but still had some extra space. I launched out despite an approaching squall. My first destination, Yomitan, only 4 miles away. I hit the beach as soon as the rain hit; emptied my kayak and set up camp. Up at dawn, packed, ate and launched before 6. Man it was hot. It was nice to have a view of the Kerama Islands to the southwest. Jim told me it had been raining almost consistently since May. The air and water was still and the temperature and humidity approaching 100.
It took me 4 hours to paddle the 12 miles to Manza Beach, stopping frequently to drink and savor the coral cliffs of Cape Zanpa and the coral heads of Onna Bay. Took a quick peek into the cave below Manzamo cliff and rounded the corner to Manza beach. Set up i camp and walked up to Manzamo . I saw my old friend Nori, who runs a souvenir stand. My son and his children used to play with my kayaks and Nori's pedal boats in sheltered waters betweeen Manza and the ANA Hotel when I was stationed on Okinawa 1999-2001. Nori lent me a bicycle so I could get around a bit easier. Hit the sack that night after rushingly putting the rainfly on when a sudden sunshower hit. In an instant, the sky started glowing with an awesome Okinawa sunset. Went to sleep to the sound of traditional Okinawan music being played at the ANA Hotel. As I was preparing to launch, Nori came to see me off. He suggested I head for Kouri Island. I had been to Kourijima frequently. It is located a couple of miles north of Nakajin on the Motobu Peninsula. The bridge that was being built when I left Okinawa was completed, but the port area was still very active with fisherman and diving outfitters and the island really had not changed. As I was eating dinner at the minchuku ( Japanese Inn) The One Armed Harmonica Player of Kouri Island appeared with his 91 year old mother. He serenaded her while she was eating her soba and after dinner, he drove her to the port and set her on a chair on a pier and serenaded her for another hour while the sun set.
From Kourijima, short paddle over to Okuma, site of US Armed Forces resort. Grabbed some breakfast and went to get a room. Found out there was a typhoon alert. This turned out to be an over reaction to the formation of a trough near Guam. The alert was lifted 2 hours later. Spoke with a couple from Kadena Air Base who were celebrating their anniversary. I was amazed by how clueless they were about life outside the gate. Headed out around 10 after sleeping and shortly arrived at Ginama, my last port on Okinawa. Set up camp and hitched a ride toe Cape Hedo for a late lunch/early dinner. That evening, an older couple from Naha asked me if camping was ok. They set up their site. The man, Mr Fujiwara worked as a chef at a Naha hotel. 25 years ago, he got divorced from his wife and spent a year cycling around Japan, from Tokyo to Hokkaido and down to Kagoshima. He hopped a boat and came down to Okinawa and decided to settle here.
Next morning, broke camp, packed the boat and had an awesome breakfast of Mangos and coffee with the Fujiwaras. Launched out and paddled the 4 miles to Hedo, said bye to Okinawa and headed ENE toward Yoron, 16 miles away. The water was flat and the air was hot, almost 100 deg. Crossed in 4.5 hrsbut almost dehydrated. Stopped mid crosssing and drank about 2 liters of water and ate the dried mangos Mrs Fujiwara gave me. I came through the surf breaking on the reef and walked the boat about 200 ft through the shallow water barely covering the reef to the beach. Walked up the clifff to the Blue Coral Restraunt and had a beer. First crossing completed.
Up early on Yoron and another hot flat day. 22 miles across to Okinoerabu Island in 6.5 hours. Every 15 minutes to stop and drink. Finished a gallon of water during this crossing. Okinoerabu's Pacific coast is surrounded by a large reef and landing would need to be in a port. Paddled 2 miles NNE to China port and made my way into the fishing port through the labrynth of breakwaters. Saw a Canadian flagged sailboat tied to the pier but no one aboard. Landed, ate and it was real hot. Tied off the Khats and went over to the nearby park for a nap. Slept about 2 hours then headed along the coast some more. All coral reef and nowhere to land until Wadodomari. After 8 miles of paddling, saw a decent spot to camp near the town, but would need to ride the breakers in. Caught a couple of nice rides over the reef and set up my camp on a sliver of beach below the town. Hitched a ride to the supermarket and back and had a quick dinner of pepper steak. Off to bed.
Awoke the next morning to fog, packed up and headed NNE along the coast. Rounded Cape Kunigami but unable to site Tokunoshima about 24 miles away. Headed sw along the China Sea coast. Lots more landing options. Took a long break in a secluded cove. I make my way down to another port and take a nasty slipon the boat ramp while landing. Decide to cross to Tokunoshima by ferry so pack up my gear and break down the boat and catch a ride across the the island back to Wadodomari. Watch the Mariners play while waiting for the ferry. Catch a cab at the port and head for a hotel for the night. My right foot is blistered and sore so I put on some moleskin. The hotel is by a beach so launching will be easy. Slept in until 7 and reassembled and packed the Khats. I had planned to paddle along the Tokunoshimas coast and camp before heading to Amami but there was a fresh breeze from the SW and the temp was about 5-6 degrees cooler so as I headed out I veered to the east heading between Yoro and Uke Islands. It was really nice to have my deck awash. Swells were in 3-4 ft range and that breeze felt fresh. The waves built over the course of the 25 mile crossing peaking out at 10 feet. Nice to have some whitecaps.
As I came closer to Yoro the waves became quartering and flanking to my port. As I entered the mouth of the strait between the islands, my progress slowed. I eddied over to Yoro and hugged the shoreline. Saw 3 people on a secluded beach but the water over the reef was too shallow to land and the port was only a mile up. Landed at the fishing ramp and tied off the boat. Lots of free range goats nearby. No soda machines! ( a rarity in Japan). There was a dial phone in the port and a decent beach to camp and a faucet. Found a store that was cold beer and snacks. Had a beer and paddled over to the beach and set up camp. The residents of Yoro all seemed to be in their 80s with a few younger folks around the port and the ferry captain. The houses were all stone with tin or aluminum roofs and tatami floors, traditional Okinawan style homes. The streets were lined by coral walls and in front of many houses was a 7-8 ft stick with the tip painted red. I do not know the signicance. The fire department was a small red pickup truck. Found another store that had a better selection and got some dry fruit to have with my beefaroni. Too hot to sleep in the tent so I went over to the breakwater and lay down under a very clear, starry sky. Spent the night watching meteor showers. Around 4 am, a gentleman woke me up and gave me a couple of small fish. 15 minutes later, they were cleaned and frying in my pan. Pretty nice breakfast. Yoro was like stepping into a time warp. No phones. Cell service? Quiet streets. What a cool little place.
About 6 am started to paddle. The 60ft long ferry was idling and some folks were milling around. I pulled out the port and started crossing over to Uke Island. I knew the ferry would be coming soon so I kept my ears open and checked behind. I purposely headed over toward a small Island in the strait and near some shoaling water. The ferry had started his trip. I paddled a bit more, sure that I was out of the main channel. The ferry was about 200 yds away, bearing down on me. I turned quickly and waved my paddle. The ferry veered and slowed and missed me by a good 50 yds. Made it over to Uke Island with no further incidents. Stopped at the port on Uke. Glad to see a soda machine. Had a snack at the post office and headed across the Uke Suido (Uke Strait) to Kakeroma. Waves were starting to build as I headed toward the Pacific. Suddenly, my left leg shot forward. My foot peg had slipped. I headed over toward a protected cove, landed and fixed my peg. I went along the coral headed shoreline out to the Pacific and about 1 mile north along Kakeroma's Pacific Coast. Enjoyed the swell and following surf over th edeep reef. Cut through a small rock garden and turned west into the Amami Strait. Lots of sea caves and rocky beaches. A waterfall was cascading down the steep cliff. I surf landed on a rocky beach.
After landing, a large wave hit the Khats and tossed it up on the shore. I barely got out of the way of the surging boat. Re grouped for a surf launch. A bit worried about my hull and being dragged over the rocks. Launched uneventfully, but noted my keel bar was askew. I was afraid that it had snapped. I landed in sheltered cove on Kakeroma and surveyed the damage. The bar had merely seperated and all was well. Some scratches on the hull but no breaches. Decided to store the skirt and enjoy the calm paddle across the strait to Setouchi, Amami Island. I was out in the middle of the strait when the tide turned. Suddenly, sets of 4-5 foot rollers came toward my flank. I wish I had my skirt, but glad that I had the sea sock in. Caught the first wave and rode it forward. Next wave came up and broached me. I was bracing into the wave. My cockpit was full of water but I remained upright. I got into some calm water near Amami and bailed my cockpit. Landed in Koniya Port and stowed my boat and found a hotel. 4 days until the All Japan Sea Kayak Marathon.
Took 2nd in the folding kayak division. I had initially planned on paddling to mainland, but my navigation skills are a bit too soft and the weather was not cooperating.I had wanted to paddle some aroud Amami, but with a typhoon approaching and a lift to the ferry and Kagoshima Airport, I headed home. Had a 2 day wait in rainy Kagoshima before I could get a flight so I just walked around and watched TV while mending some gear. Night before I left, ended up getting hit by a car. What a way to end and fund a great trip.
| You can donate a dollar (or more) via PayPal to help keep the site going. If you donate this way, everything goes direct to web hosting- no cash to me. It just helps pay my hosting bills. |
|
| You can buy Folding Kayak merchandise at Cafe Press |
By buying kayak books through Amazon you help to defray the costs of this site. Every book you buy generates a small dividend for this web site, at no cost to yourself. (See the Books page for specific kayaking recommendations).