Assembly Instructions

Flying with Folding Boats

Mapping Out Your Next Trip

Packing & Securing Gear in a PakCanoe

Repair & Maintenance of Pakboats

Skin on Frame Boats

Surviving Mosquitoes & Black Flies

Summer 2003 Review of Briefcase Boats.

"Foldables, the secret is in the bag".

Pakboats, Puffin Kayak 12

I could see him watching from a city picnic table. His CCM three-speed leaned against a young maple with a basketful of stale bread for the geese. I had the 12-foot Pakboat Puffin out of its small duffel, hull unrolled at my feet and the frame pieces piled on the grass like Boy Scout's puptent poles.

"I'll give ya' an hour," he yelled, now hobbling my way. I handed him the two pages of instructions, rising to his challenge. "If you read these, thirty minutes tops I'll be feeding your geese from the water." I introduced myself and Bicycle Earl began barking directions.

Insert the keel pole and gunwales and snap in the seven aluminum cross ribs. Check. Inflate the sponsons to add stability and tighten the skin to the frame. Check. Inflate and install the seat. Check. Velcro on the PVC coated woven syntethic spray deck to keep me dry.Check. Load stale bread into the cockpit and launch. Check. In less than twenty minutes I'd thanked Earl and was heading around the breakwall.

The Puffin is a simple, very light, rigid and super-sporty kayak. It's the perfect boat for a traveling business person (like me) looking to explore the harbour after an afternoon in traffic.