At last a Kayak suitable for space limited motorhomers (1 Viewer)

Wildman

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Play boat, or fishing yak, you choose. AB Leisure Retail Ltd., have a stunning range of sit on top kayaks suitable for just about anything you could wish for. They have a 3mtr,3.5, and 4mtr all of which I will have the privilege to review for you. We initially look at the Ranger 1, the smallest of the range , so small it will fit inside most cars, vans and motorhomes. Motorhomes come in many sizes large vans like mine with a roof full of solar panels only have three choices to carry water transport of a solid variety, inside across the back or on a trailer. So a small kayak like the Ocean Ranger 1 should fit the bill.

As delivered and on top of my Disco you can see it will actually fit inside, and I later proved that it could. So what do you get,
Kayak 2.700 long, 800mm wide and 300 deep, it weighs 21 kilo and has a payload of 150kg (we shall see)
A set of six scupper bungs
One piece paddle
Deluxe seat that includes a handy bag on the back of it.
4x flush mount rod holders
1 x centre mount (on a ball so adjustable) rod holder
Initial impression is one of solid engineering and well thought out design. There are two hatches both hinged.
The hatch in front of the seat is a sealed watertight compartment.

The one in the bow allows access to the hull but also has a removable bag suspended by the rim.

The rear well is large enough to carry a dive bottle or tackle box

Footrests are moulded in to make paddling comfortable.

The high backed seat incorporates a useful bag on the rear. The seat itself is very comfortable and well padded.

Side carry handles are magic to save skinned knuckles they make lifting very easy.

The paddle keeper is one of the most positive I have seen and holds the paddle well down out of the way when fishing.

The sides of the yak taper out towards the bottom making it easier to paddle and creating a stable platform.

Before I can try it on the rear of the motorhome I have to build the rack, but dimension wise it fits perfectly. However due to the fact that it is only 300mm deep it does pass easily through an open Seitz window and fit inside of the motorhome making it easy to keep safe when out exploring.

More comments once it has been on the water and in the surf.
 

scotjimland

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Looks like a decent kayak Roger and a very competitive price .. £250

It's a problem I have been grappling with, how to take a Canadian canoe in a motorhome.. even if you have roof space, getting a 16ft, 35 kg canoe onto the roof is not easy .. there are side lift systems Broken Link Removed .. but whether they suit will depend very much on the motorhome..

The only other alternative is a trailer.. which I am considering as it could also carry a second kayak .. but that's a long trailer that i'm not keen on.. especially for going abroad.

My third consideration was an inflatable kayak or canoe.. looked at several makes... one that I like is the Palava, made by Gumex , great fun on the beach or white water running, but slow and heavy on long paddles on lakes and canals.. they cannot compete with solid hulls when it comes to ease of paddling. So the jury is still out..


Look forward to your review and a few pics ..


Mine on the roof of the CRV
DSC_8442.JPG

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DesRes

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Well it's not a canoe, but you are desparate to get on the water, then it's worth considering an inflatable SUP, Stand Up Paddleboard. I have two, one 11' x 32" and one 9' 6" x 30".
Both collapse down and roll up, easily fitting into the MH garage. The longer is great for inland paddling and the shorter does well in small/medium surf.
After years of surfing/windsurfing/kitesurfing we bought the new MH and I promised my wife no more surfboards/wet stuff in the lounge. These do the job...::bigsmile:
 

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JJ

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I know it is not a kayak but...

This is the only boat that, as a motorhomer, I lust after...

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Hf2TqkrfU&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]EzyBoat Video - YouTube[/ame]



By the way rich Funsters... it will soon be my birthday...

No pressure...


JJ :Cool:
 

Puddleduck

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That looks ideal. Looking forward to hearing the report after it's been paddled for a few hours.

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scotjimland

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Since last posting have found these inflatables with a Hard-Bottom floor ..

I like very much.. depending on model, a double one wouldn't be a lot more than two single sit-on tops..

there are several models,

Aquaglide

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5riokOFTpE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5riokOFTpE[/ame]
 

RS_rob

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over a Year Yay................
No probs here :winky:

The playboat fits inside allowing the creek boat to move over & the sea kayak to slide on top ::bigsmile:

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Wildman

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Wildman

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Apparently the company seem to think I would be unable to give them the coverage they needed despite me posting on 14 different motorhome and kayak fishing forums and reaching over 100,000 members. Maybe contact from any interested members quoting "Wildmans" review would help; who knows. They collected the review kayak after only 3 days so I had no chance to get it wet.

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Puddleduck

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Oh what a shame..... I was looking forward to hearing what you thought about it.

We are thinking of getting day boats (perhaps selling the tourers) but funds a bit limited at present. They will probably have to wait until next April / May but that will give us chance to look round as there are new sit-ons coming to market all the time. I had one of the first sit-ons in the UK and converted several other people!

Message sent - I told them that I was awaiting your report with a view to considering the purchase of a minimum of 2 Ranger sit-ons. If they reply I'll let you know.
 
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Wildman

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When I had my chandlers shop back in 1982 we had one in for sale, that must have been one of the first in the country advertised as a sit on top surf ski. Plastics were not so good then, they have come on in leaps and bounds. The smaller kayak as of course weight limited but even then for inland waters I doubt even I could sink one, make is semi submercible maybe, hee hee but I never got to find out. I was so taken with them and the ease with which I could carry it in the motorhome that I may just go to the shop and buy one next year and take a chance. Another plus that I never mentioned in the preliminary report is that they actually stack one inside another so carrying 2 on a roof rack is no problem

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Puddleduck

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You are a long way from us Peter! I already have a Sevylor (great fun on The Allier a few years back) but much prefer a rigid - personal choice no actual reason. I wouldn't buy any kayak without at least sitting in it and prefer to paddle it for a few minutes to check for comfort. Many kayaks are designed for men and not "traditionally built" women so sitting for a good 10 minutes to find if and where it pinches is a must. Experience talking here ;)

I am 5ft 10in and def. not a "smaller" paddler!!!! Hubby is 6ft and son is 6ft 2ins. I am the midget in my family - they laugh at me because I am stunted.
 

Puddleduck

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My first sit-on was fibre glass which gives you a clue as to vintage.

At the moment I have an old style Ride, slow, heavy, huge and stable.
 
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I have two Sevylor inflatables. I agree they're not as ideal as rigids but where space is an issue it's better than nothing! Took them to France this summer and had a wonderful time paddling down the Vezere with my son!
image.jpg

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Wildman

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Storage is my greatest problem, my roof is covered with solar panels and I don't wish to tow a trailer. I have an unused inflatable dinghy that will not fit in any outside locker so stowage is no good, I assume an inflatable canoe would be the same. The ridged fits inside on the floor whilst travelling and slides forward into the cab area when parked allowing access to all seats, cooker bathroom etc. It is the perfect solution for me. The problem is my weight(17stone), it would probably perform like a submarine though according to their blurb it should cope. I never got a chance to try it out. I was going to buy one in the next few weeks but a surface grinder for the workshop came up that I could not say no to, so it will have to wait a while.
 

cruiser

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I think I could fit one of those in my m/home. but I think I will ask dave for his outlook on it.
 

DuxDeluxe

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Hi, we have used these Ocean Kayaks when on holiday - very robust (ours were hired) and both singles and two person ones. Stable, and easy to use as well - even Dawn found it easy. Only thing I would make sure of having is the backrest - we certainly found them essential. Hope that helps

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Minxy

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We have had a few inflatable canoes/kayaks and we are big fans of the Gumotex range for several reasons - the basic difference between Gumotex and most other makes of inflatable lies in how they are constructed.

Non-Gumotex inflatables:
Most other inflatable canoes/kayaks are made with internal bladders within zipped outer covers (2 in each side and 1 in the base) and the problem with this is that the water gets inside the cover (even though the zips are inside where you sit you cannot avoid it as they are not waterproof). This means that as well as the polyester/nylon type outer material absorbing some water whilst using the kayak/canoe, with it getting inside the covers it is an absolute s*d to get out again and one you have managed this, you have to wait for it to dry which can take a long, long time - I know 'cause we bought some like this and soon regretted it! Fine if you intend to only use them at the same spot you are staying at for a while but not if you've just popped there for a paddle before moving on the same day.

Gumotex:
Their models in contrast are much, much easier to dry as they are made in once piece so no separate bladders and cover - it is all 'moulded' together so the water cannot get 'inside' at all - they can therefore be quickly and easily dried with a cloth/towel and put away, no having to wait for them to dry or pack them away wet to dry them elsewhere such as back a your campsite (unless you want to). They also can be inflated to a higher psi than the bladder type so are more rigid and are very tough being made from either full Nitrilon (a material which will take a lot of knocks) or a lighter version called Hevealon to keep the weight down (called Litepak when it first came out), some models even have a mixture of the 2 types and depending on your requirements you can get whatever type you want/need, and whatever your budget allows. Quite a lot of their models can do WW3!

We currently have a couple of Gumotex Helios 1 kayaks which are very good and if I wantI can put on a skeg and also a rudder* on for longer trips (*I'm going to make one as they ain't cheap). I can quite happily go for a paddle for a couple of hours or more without any problem at all.

Unfortunately due to hubby's knees and hip he's not likely to do it any more so we're probably going to be selling his shortly ... I'm just leaving it a while in case he changes his mind as they aren't 'cheap' to replace!
 

Minxy

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Storage is my greatest problem, my roof is covered with solar panels and I don't wish to tow a trailer. I have an unused inflatable dinghy that will not fit in any outside locker so stowage is no good, I assume an inflatable canoe would be the same. The ridged fits inside on the floor whilst travelling and slides forward into the cab area when parked allowing access to all seats, cooker bathroom etc. It is the perfect solution for me. The problem is my weight(17stone), it would probably perform like a submarine though according to their blurb it should cope. I never got a chance to try it out. I was going to buy one in the next few weeks but a surface grinder for the workshop came up that I could not say no to, so it will have to wait a while.
The heavier you are often makes it better with an inflatable as it sits lower in the water so less prone to being blown around and going off course. When I take the dogs out on my Helios 1 the added weight certainly helps.

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cruiser

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sorry to hear about your hubby,hope all goes well. thank you for the advise.
 

Minxy

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Oh, forgot to say, we first started out with a Gumotex Palava (large 2 seater) which we and our 3 dogs went out in, but found that we ended up arguing so much about who should paddle when/where etc we didn't enjoy it, hence why we changed to single seater ones.

Some photos below:

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Minxy

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Just having a nosy at the Aquaglide kayaks and stumbled upon a website which sells sectional ones which would make them easier to stow ...

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Minxy

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Some examples of various makes of inflatable canoes/kayaks on here too:

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Puddleduck

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Just having a nosy at the Aquaglide kayaks and stumbled upon a website which sells sectional ones which would make them easier to stow ...

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We saw these in the USA but be aware that the payload is just less than 100kg. That's for the paddler, equipment and anything else you wish to carry including food and water.

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