Paddling Bolivia in a folding canoe, searching for a giant spider monkey, Bolivia 1997.
Dear Alv Elvestad
I thought you might be interested to hear about my recent expedition in Bolivia using the 16.5′ pak canoe I ordered from you this spring.
The aim of our expedition was to explore several rivers in Northern Bolivia up to the Serranias of Cepite and Eslabon, jungle covered mountain ranges where the Andes meet the lowland Amazon. The area is uninhabited and mostly unexplored and we wanted to check out rumors of a giant spider monkey – the ‘Mono Rey”, that was said to live up there. Though we didn’t find it, a local guide who looked at my sketches after the trip told me he was sure that the pictures were of a different type of monkey, more ape like and shaggy than the spider monkeys I’d seen with him the year before – this is something we have to look into! At any rate the wildlife was fantastic, abundant and very tame – we were rewarded with very close views of many types of monkeys, otters, peccaries, tapirs and an ocelot.
The pak canoe was ideal for our purposes as we were able to quickly dismantle it, make it into a (heavy) rucksack load and carry it over mountainous watersheds on our journeys to the headwaters of the rivers Hondo and Eslabon. Once at the rivers we had no problem using it to carry three of us (plus equipment, food for a month etc.) paddling and hauling it upstream to the limits of navigability of the rivers then riding downstream through rapids etc. on our journey out of the rain forest.
Over the six weeks or so that we were in the jungle we tested the boat pretty hard and it survived surprisingly well the ‘punishment’ it received. On the outside of the hull the centerline and the lines of the two latch poles got a lot of wear and we tried to protect these areas with duct tape which seemed to ‘stall’ the damage though some small stones lodged on the inside managed to puncture through. Also, the end poles are now fairly bent-in following several collisions with submerged logs. We had to bend them back by hand over rocks to keep going. Can they be straightened properly, will they have been weakened and if so, will I need replacement parts?
I’d appreciate any advice/help on how I can repair the canoe as I would like to use it on further expeditions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours Sincerely,
Simon Chapman
Manufacturer’s Note:
We helped Simon Chapman get his canoe back in shape for the next trip. The bent stems (end poles) were replaced. They had suffered a lot of abuse in several collisions and had been repaired several times. Since no other part of the frame needed repair, replacing the stems was an inexpensive way to make the canoe frame “as good as new”.
While duct tape is a quick fix, it does not wear well. To install a permanent patch after duct tape the duct tape adhesive must be removed. We find it more convenient to take a little extra time and install a permanent patch in the first place.