Chaco:



Kayak in Orca Whale Territory
ORCA WHALES, EAGLES
DAY & MULTI-DAY TOURS
www.crystalseas.com/Orcas

Advice, Suggestions and General Help

New Topic

Printer Friendly Version

  Thanks! +More questions...
  Posted by: Aniviel on Sep-03-12 5:52 PM (EST) 

Wow! Thanks so much for all of the advice, especially willowleaf's thoughtful reply.

Feathercraft and Folbot are getting out of my price range, which admittedly I did not define. I wasn't looking to spend more than around $500, but as I look at my options I think I might bump that up to about $900, though going that high would hurt a bit.

Willowleaf, you mentioned cargo space, which I hadn't really thought about too much. However, since I am looking at a piece of equipment that should last me until I do get comfortable enough to do some longer trips with it, that is a concern. I actually really like what I can find about the Puffin Saco. I'm somewhat concerned about the length, both because I'm pretty sure I've only rented ~10 footers and because it wouldn't fit on my balcony to dry! Say I could find a Puffin Sport (the discontinued 10.5' model) somewhere, does anyone see any reason not to go for that?

Looking for cargo space, I also looked into an Innova Helios single, which looks to have adequate cargo space in a more convenient package than the Puffin. (Faster setup and with fewer parts to pack.) The capacity is rated at 220 pounds as opposed to the Puffin Sport's 250, which is a small con. Can anyone speak to the performance of the inflatable Helios as compared to the hybrid Puffin?

Thanks again!