length: 12’2” width: 28” weight: 21.5 lbs capacity: 250 lbs material: PVC-coated woven synthetic fabric frame: aluminum frame price: $1,195 US contact:
www.pakboats.com
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.”
pakboats puffin kayak 12
I introduced myself and Bicycle Earl began barking directions. Insert the keel pole and gunwales and snap in the seven aluminum crossribs. Check. Inflate the sponsons to add stability and tighten the skin on the frame. Check. Inflate and install the seat. Check. Velcro on the PVC-coated woven synthetic 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 travelling business person (like me) looking to explore the harbour after an afternoon in traffic.—SM
Briefcase Boat File: Princess Navarana
Navarana Smith is probably one of the most travelled seven-year-olds on the planet. She spent her first few summers in the Fox Basin in Canada’s High Arctic and in the Queen Charlotte Islands, following her biologist parents on migratory bird research expeditions. When asked where she has visited, she loses track and often has to look up and ask her parents to complete the list. “I’ve been to the Queen Charlottes, Banks Island, Patagonia, Greenland, Great Slave Lake…and where else, Mom?” “You’ve been to New Zealand, Mexico, Ellesmere Island…” Navi’s mom, Jane, reminds her. The list impresses even the most travel-seasoned peripatetic veterans. Between wildlife work and guiding, Navarana’s family spends much of the year “somewhere else,” but they still find time for personal trips. They have a custom sprayskirt that allows Navi to sit between them in their wood-framed double. Sometimes, Navarana even gets her own cockpit. In this photo taken on the rugged East Arm of Great Slave Lake, Navarana daydreams while her father, Steve, provides the horsepower. Navarana does have her own kid-sized paddle, but sometimes one just needs to be a kid. —Dave Quinn
ADVENTUREkayakmag.com 33
photos Dave Quinn
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