Casting Off and Foldable Kayaks

[Sweetiepie]

Casting off in Dec. not coming back! I'm starting an eBay store for everything we are not taking. Any suggestions for "must haves" for liveaboards? I want to be as off the grid as possible. Also, I want to buy a foldable kayak...anyone out there that has one? Which are the best that take up the least amount of space? Thanks!

[knottygurl]

set a time limit, what ever has not sold is either divided and given away, dropped to thrift store or disposed of.
decided on clothing that will suit your cruising needs, thrift store the rest.
From what I have read you will reach a point where you have too much for the boat and can't get rid of items, that's where you either loose it or store it.
Best of luck and enjoy

[Kettlewell]

We have a couple of Innova inflatable kayaks onboard that we bought for the kids to use, but we found they have just enough capacity to carry an adult, with the potential of getting a wet rear end. Some of the bigger inflatable kayaks have pretty good performance too. They are a lot of fun to paddle around the harbor. So far, knock on wood, we do not have one hole in either of the seven-year-old kayaks used by our two kids all over the western Caribbean, including a lot of time in the San Blas Islands, and all up and down the East Coast of the USA. They are quite durable.

[jacob30]

Lots of choices here is a good comparison table:

Product Comparison Charts for Inflatable Kayaks, Folding Kayaks, Inflatable Pontoons & Float Tubes

Looked into these before and like the concept.

[Kettlewell]

By the way, I don't know how many times it has come in handy having multiple dinghies (inflatable kayaks) onboard--it allows us to be independent when in harbor. The one problem I can see with the folders is the difficulty of set up on deck without losing any pieces over the side. An inflatable is easy to set up, can easily be brought on deck at night, doesn't bang up the topsides when in the water, and they are easy to move around when you go ashore. They don't tow well at all.

[belizesailor]

Have a couple of inflatable Sevlor kayaks aboard, a one person and a two person, good quality construction, durable fabric cover, paddle surprisingly well for inflatables. Easy to store of course is one of their best features.

Ebay is a great way to get rid of excess boat junk. I was selling some years ago and was not making enough progress selling one item at a time. So, I started filling small boxes with lots of miscellaneous boat stuff --- I was quite surprised how well these sold.

An interesting eBay phenomena, people get caught up in the thrill of the chase and I have had many used items sell at near the near their new retail price. I've even had a couple sell for MORE than their new retail price! What are these people thinking? You can capitalize on this by structuring your listing so that people are encouraged to make that first bit. After a few bids you get a feeding frenzy going. What has worked for me, is to list the item with a very low starting bid and for higher value items set a reserve price. This way people can start with a low bid and get the frenzy going.

Good Luck.

[Butler]

I owned an old Folboat, a double seater, once and really loved it. Worked great for the two of us and could haul plenty of groceries in it going solo. Someone else must have thought it a good idea as well as it took a walk.
The trick with folders is that they require enough space to be laid out and assembled. I'm looking for another and would love to find an old used Greenlander when I have the cash but only because I have a huge flat deck to put it together on. Barring that I'd get one of the partially framed inflatables.
Best of luck you guys... my favorite "must have" so far are my oil lamps and a close second would be waterproof headlamps with red light and strobe options.

[barnakiel]

I think Thoreau used a foldable in his adventures. What I can see about the docks is the new generation of rigid inflatables (Sevylor style).

b.

[Hud3]

I have one of these



Very good performance for an inflatable and pretty rugged, too. They have other models, including a double. Link -- Advanced Elements

Here's a search on "inflatable kayak" which lists a number of prior CF threads on the subject.

Inflatable kayak

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Hud3

I have one of these


Advanced Elements

Confirmed.

This is a copy-copy of the higher Sevylor models.

I have seen one of these AE this summer and it looked most usable - light and well made - outer shell was of Dacron (NOT Nylon) promising much beter durability in high UV environment.

Cheers,
b.