Sea Kayaking and Travel: Folding Kayaks by Klepper, Feathercraft and Others

Kayaking Asia with Full Moonis published in Singapore, where there's a large contingent of folding kayakers. Folding kayaks have long intrigued many for their portability via airline, train, car, bus and boat. You you always have your familiar favorite boat with you no matter wher you travel.

But they're rare here in New England (I don't think I've ever seen one), so trying one out is tough.

One retail outlet in New York City did at one time rent folding kayaks to travelers, even going so far as to have the kayak shipped to your destination overseas, but has since stopped the practice for reasons of liability.

To many sea kayaker's eyes, the most attractive folding kayak is the Feathercraft Khatsalano, built in Canada, whose upswept ends and fine bow remind most of the sea kayaks they've become used to. Other folding boat manufacturers include Klepper and Innova.

Innova kayaks are less folding than inflatable.

If you want to have a look at the folding kayak world, less parochial than most kayaking groups, you'll find an active and informative kayak group at groups.yahoogroup/Bagboater.

Bagboater has an international flavor.

As you'll soon find, buying a folding kayak requires considerable research time reading reviews and comparing the performance specs of different models of folding kayaks.

The info is often scattered around the web in forums or websites. A good shorcut is to read Ralph Diaz's The Complete Folding Kayaker.

Diaz proivides unbiased reviews of the major folding kayak manufacturers and their competing models. The book has helped many decide on which boat to buy for their interests and needs.

Diaz also includes chapters on the history and evolution of folding kayaks. Singapore is mentioned in a couple of them, as the city has a long folding kayak history.