Inflatable Kayak Blog

So, the start of the trip was probably the part that was the hardest. That feeling that I could not do it wouldn’t leave me, no matter what the instructor said to assure us.  I had never been in a kayak before and it just felt like I was getting in way over my head. But in actuality, once the first leg of the trip was through, the trip was more fun than difficult.  The pace wasn’t too fast, but it also wasn’t too slow to be boring. When I needed a rest, it seemed like everyone was on the same page and I never had to actually say I was tired. I’m thinking about getting a sea eagle kayak  for myself later this month.

At first I didn’t think that I could do it.  It seemed like too much distance for anyone like me to cover in a portable kayak.  But the idea of getting to a beautiful island, where my friend had rented a lovely cabin on the water (I was shown pictures) was too tempting for me not to try. So I gave it a go and you know what?  It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  Not just the wonderful fun that was had on our own private beach, but everything else that went with the trip.  I felt like I created something and it was well worth the anguish of getting my foot in the water.

On the floor at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show in the Salt Lake Convention Center, we got together with Erik from Clear Blue Hawaii at their booth. A question that’s been on many minds for awhile is “when will the two person Hanauma inflatable kayak be back in stock and available for purchase?” Due to manufacturing problems, the Hanauma has been unavailable since March. Erik told us that it looked like the Hanauma would be available, hopefully, by the end of August. We hope so, too, since we have a long list of potential customers wanting to buy one.

We also saw a new product, expected to be available in 2009. Clear Blue Hawaii has developed a self-inflating kayak carrier. It’s a set of two rectangular padded straps that attach easily to the top of any vehicle. They’re super lightweight and can be carried in a small bag until you’re ready to use them. They have a self-inflating system similar to some life vests. They won’t scratch the car top and they can be used for any kind of kayak or boat, depending on the width. Folding kayaks don’t usually work well with carriers because the strain of tightening them down bends the frame. This padded carrier should reduce some of that pressure and may be an answer for those of you who have folding kayaks and want to occasionally ‘car top’ them.

Over the next few days we’ll continue to post several blogs that will have specific information about more of the individual products we’ve tested and seen here at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show.

The indoor portion of the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show began on Friday and runs through Monday. The Salt Lake Convention Center was jammed with booths and exhibits from manufacturers from around the world. The main rooms, the hallways, and smaller meeting rooms we’re all filled with exhibitors. There were even exhibits outside of the building. This show is the largest in North America and our feet learned why!

As we’ve said, the reason we attended this show is to visit with our current distributors and to look for possible product additions. In addition to touching base with PakBoats and Sea Eagle, who we also got to see at the ‘Open Air Demo’, we we’re able to meet up with Erik from Clear Blue Hawaii and Stuart of Cannon Paddles and learn more about what’s happening with those products.

Some of the new items we really liked were the K-Pak Folding Boat, the Aqua-Pak line of waterproof bags, the “Spot” Satellite Messenger and the Kona inflatable stand up Paddle Board. The “Paddle Boards” were considered one of the ‘show stoppers’ at the ‘Open Air Demo’ and are quickly becoming be one of the hottest new trends in paddle sports. When we saw them at the ‘demo’ we could see how much potential they had, but it looked like they all were of solid construction like their surfboard cousins. Since that didn’t fit into our ‘portable’ watercraft niche, we didn’t think much more of it … until an accidental meeting with the man who distributes the inflatable version. Our general conversation about each other’s businesses led to the discovery that there was an inflatable paddle board and we could become a dealer! There are more details to be finalized before we have these products on PortableKayaks.com, but the future looks good for all of them to be added to our line.
 
Over the next few days, we’ll continue to post several blogs that will have specific information about more of the individual products we’ve tested and seen here at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show.

The best part about the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show ‘Open Air Demo’ is the opportunity to paddle boats that you’ve never paddled before. The Puffin 12 (aka Puffin Kayak) fits in that category. It’s the most versatile folding kayak in the PakBoat line and so lightweight, at only 23 pounds. At 12 foot in length, it’s very maneuverable and yet it can generate good speed. I especially noticed the speed I was able to generate, and I’m not considered an expert paddler, more of an average recreationist. There were many, many hard shell kayaks at the ‘open air demo’, but the PakBoats looked and paddled right with them. While paddling the Puffin 12, I had a young lady, who was paddling a hard shell, ask me about the boat and comment on how nice it looked in the water.

The boat I paddled was a 2009 prototype that had a new side color, gray. Currently PakBoats offer three side colors; red, green and blue with one deck color; yellow. The 2009 models will offer two side colors; gray and black, and two deck colors; mango (as seen in the picture) and red. I think the color combinations will make the PakBoats even better looking than they already are. The 2009 frame designs are not very different, with only a few improvements and manufacturing adjustments to allow for easier part replacement. Of course, the 14 foot Puffin Swift is clearance priced and will no longer be available. They will continue to be backed up by PakBoats excellent service, though. The new XT touring kayaks will essentially replace the Swift. We paddled a two person XT and a new Puffin 10 (aka Puffin Sport) and I’ll tell you more about those in a later blog.

Over the next few days and into next week, we’ll post several blogs that will have specific information about more of the individual products we’ve tested and seen here at the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show.

The 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show began with the ‘Open Air Demo’, two days where manufacturers allow attendees the opportunity to paddle, ride and test out their products. Pineview Reservoir is about an hour away from Salt Lake City, so we decided to take the train. Utah has a really nice transportation system, originally developed to accommodate the Winter Olympics that were held here in 2002. The newest addition is the FrontRunner train. Our badges allowed us to ride free as far as Ogden, then catch a shuttle to the demo. The ride up was fun on the train, however we had a more scenic ride when we took the shuttle bus directly back to the city after the show.

By the time we arrived at the demo, the cloudy skies that began the day had changed to bright sunshine. The rest of the day was probably the hottest since we arrived and sunscreen and shady areas became a major part of the plan. The tents in the parking lot and on the beach made for a carnival like atmosphere and the water was filled with paddlers, motor boaters (farther out into the lake) and something we hadn’t seen before, people standing on surfboards while paddling them, most likely one of the newer products at the show. It was exciting to see everyone enjoying the day and the camaraderie.

Our main interest at the ‘open air demo’ was the Sea Eagle and Pakboat tents. Coincidentally they were located next to each other. We talked with John and Cecil Hoge from Sea Eagle as we had the opportunity to paddle the 340x Explorer Inflatable Kayak and the catamaran style PaddleSki for the first time. Alv Elvestad, the designer of the PakBoats was there helping us to test paddle the new Puffin models with their new color scheme and the new XT touring series, available in one and two person models. We’ll get more specific on both the Sea Eagle and Pakboats in some blogs over the next few days. Way too many things to talk about in one blog!
 
We also test paddled a new folding boat that was making it’s debut at the show, the K-Pak. Looks like we may have found an addition to our product line. I’ll get more specific on that one in another blog as well.

Over the next few days and into next week, we’ll post several blogs that will have specific information about the individual products we’ve tested and seen here at the show. The indoor portion of the show begins on Friday.

We arrived in Salt Lake City a few days in advance of the beginning of the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show, so we were able to take in some of the sights and sounds of the area. On Tuesday, we drove up to the Kennecott Copper Mine at Bingham Canyon, the largest man-made excavation on earth. It’s more than three quarters of a mile deep and two and three quarters of a mile long. Seventeen per cent of the copper mined in the U.S. comes from the mine, which is known as the “richest hole on earth”. It’s quite a sight and worth the visit if you’re near Salt Lake City.

Even though the skies were cloudy and there were some occasional sprinkles, we decided to make a slight detour on our way back and head up to Silver Lake in the Big Cottonwood Canyon. The lake is in a bog like area that’s known for a variety of wildlife, including moose. We’re still searching for our first moose sighting! We took the path around the small lake, which takes about a half hour. It took us twice as long due to our propensity for taking pictures. There were several people fishing for trout, the main species found in the lake, from the shore and two dock areas. We also saw a fisherman with fly rod in hand sitting in a float tube. Later we saw a couple paddle into view in an inflatable boat. Kind of unique to see two of the products we sell in action in a small out of the way lake. We asked one fisherman about his luck and he said that today wasn’t too good, but the other day a friend caught about 30 trout, some up to 2 pounds.

More sprinkles and some cooler temperatures gave us a reason to head back to the car and back to our resort. The open-air demo is our next stop on Wednesday as the Outdoor Retailer Show begins.

We’re here for the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show, but till it begins, here’s more about the area near Salt Lake City.

After lunch on Monday, it was time to play a little at Snowbird Resort. Two things we wanted to try while at the lodge were the Zipline and the Alpine Mountain Slide. We had seen people riding Ziplines on TV and it always looked like so much fun. You climb a tower and are strapped in to a chair and when they open the door you fly out and down a cable zipping along until it’s stopped by giant springs at the bottom. When we got off the Zipline we took the chairlift back up to try out the slide. The Alpine sled is plastic with small wheels and a steering lever that goes down a slide much like a mini luge track. You can propel yourself down the slide at a speed that’s right for you. These were both so much fun we rode each of them three times.

To end out the day, we took the tram to the top one more time to see if we could get some more pictures. Of course we couldn’t resist one more hike out to a patch of snow. On the way, we saw a mule deer gazing on the mountainside. Going down there was much easier than the extremely steep climb back to the tram. Breathing in the high altitude slows you down a bit, too. We met a hiker who had hiked up the mountain. We were breathing harder than he was. Turns out, he’s an active marathon runner in training. We learned about his exploits and he asked us about our inflatable and folding kayaks. To top it off, we saw more mule deer on the ride down in the tram. Wow, what a day!

More fun and scenic adventures are on tap for Tuesday, then the open-air demo portion of the show begins Wednesday, when we’ll be paddling some kayaks at Pineview Reservoir.

As expected, Monday was quite a full day at Snowbird, near Salt Lake City, where we are enjoying some rest and relaxation before the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show begins on Wednesday. Our first adventure was a tram ride up the mountain to 11,000 feet at Hidden Peak where we hiked several of the trails. We went down one side to the Peruvian Lift and Tunnel and went through the tunnel and back up the other side. The sun was shining off all the different peaks making for spectacular views and photo ops. Along with the mountains, there were hillsides of pretty wildflowers that added to the beauty. I was in heaven, taking about 100 pictures during our two hours on the top of the mountain.

We talked to a couple that had actually hiked up the mountain on one of the well-mapped paths. It took them about 2 hours. After telling then about our business, they mentioned they had seen folding kayaks before and had been thinking about looking into buying one. We made sure they remembered PortableKayaks.com.

We went back to the room to rest a bit and get some lunch and then we were off to play. More on that in the next blog.

When we booked our stay in Salt Lake City for our trip to the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Show, we really just wanted a nice place to stay. Using our timeshare points, there were several options and the Snowbird Resort looked as good as any. We really got lucky! Snowbird is amazing! On Sunday, we got some rest following the previous days flight but still managed some activity. We took a small hike on one of the easier trails, snapped some pictures and took in the breathtaking views. Everywhere you looked there was an awesome view of the mountains. The weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot.

In addition to being a ski resort in the winter, the Snowbird area has a variety of things for all ages to do. We saw several families enjoying the tram and ski lift rides up and down the mountain, little bungee trampolines for the kids and the Zip Ride and Alpine Mountain slide rides for all ages. We decided to get a full day activity pass on Monday and we’ll let you know about that in the next blog.

Check in for more reports this week about the area and, of course, the details from ORS, which starts Wednesday at the open air demo where we’ll be paddling some kayaks.