Mad_Mat wrote on Jul 31^st, 2012 at 7:45pm:

Yes.  I had noticed the listing at Kero Boats.  Quite frankly, their prices are too high.  I bought my brand new 150T for more than $500 less than they listed it for and my conversion kit (that I bought directly from Pakboat) was about 20% less ... and Pakboat also has the same yoke.

dd

Five (gold) ribs out; five (silver) ribs in.  Now my canoe is over 2 inches narrower.

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You might notice the black rings around the sides of each rib.  Each ring comes in 1 inch sections.  These are used to raise/lower the seat position (to a maximum of 3 inches).

Seat now positioned between the two middle thwarts.

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Swap-out complete, I now have the Pakcanoe in 150 (solo) configuration.

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Now to get it on the water to see how she handles.

dd

-might be an appropriate' thought bubble',but seems to be a harsh remark to make before happy hour gains full speed. ...    "Strictly Gear"...? no?

Well, I dropped her in the water today and it looks like she is going to be both fast and quick.  She reminded me of my younger days when I drove an Alfa Romeo Spider.

True enough, the only load in the canoe was me and that adds a little to the existing rocker (the canoe will flex under a load).  So, it was easy to turn this craft ... a bit too easy.  My normal switch and hit pace is around 3-4 strokes before I change sides.  I was having to change after 2 strokes with this little baby as I paddled down river.  On the return trip, I switched to kayak paddle and this will probably be the ticket for running long, straight distances over lakes.

The one-way distance I covered was just over 4.2 miles in just under an hour with a rest break in the middle ... not so much a rest as a water break (it was 103 here today).  Keep in mind that I was paddling my normal "distance" stroke and not digging in to make rapid progress.  In addition, the current was imperceptible, so I believe it was contributing nearly nothing to my forward progress.  In fact, when I quit paddling, I would drift UP stream slightly under the influence of the wind.  (If I were to guess, I traveled up stream faster than down with the yak paddle, but I took more water breaks on the return trip so judging speed was a bit difficult.)

It will be interesting to see how the canoe responds with a trip load, but I seriously doubt that I'll ever get close to the 650 pound load capacity.

dd

knafelc wrote on Aug 18^th, 2012 at 1:42am:

The box it came in was 36 X 16.5 X 18.5 inches.  It will pack somewhat smaller than that, but I haven't broken it down to put it into its supplied travel bag yet ... I'll get to that by early next week.  The bag itself measures 20 X 11 X 39 inches with a top closure like a military duffle bag.

The solo configuration should weigh in at about 43 pounds; the tandem configuration goes about 45 pounds.  I'll eventually put it on a set of scales so I know for sure, but I'm thinking of altering the seat layout so it will slide on the rails.  Right now, I'd have to use a screw driver to move the seat, which I wouldn't be able to do while on the water.

dd