Tandem kayaks

[Bulldog9]

One of my buddies at work has a couple kayaks and canoes and we've been going out in the mornings fishing.

I really would like to get a kayak but want to have a tandem so I can take my grandkids out or go out with the wife. But I also expect that I'll be doing more solo trips so I want something that I can easily pick up throw on the top of my truck and go as well as row on the water.

so far I've come across the hurricane Santee tandem as the best option and only weighs 54 lb and is easily managed in the water as a solo unit.

but I'm relatively new to this so figured I'd ask the group if anyone has any input. I can't find any of the hurricane models used only knew and of course I'm cheap *guzzi content* so I want to spend as little as possible.

[RinkRat II]

  CAVEAT: They are not cheap.  Hobie makes a couple tandem models with what they call their Mirage pedal drive. Google:  Mirage Compass Duo, and see all about it.The sit on top models of kayaks are more stable, have more dry storage and the weight is not that big of a deal. My wife has had her single mirage for eight years and has probably sold  ten  for Hobie just by having people ask her all about how unique and easy to use they are. She uses hers here at Lake Powell and does regular trips on a 20 mile section of the Colorado with her girlfriends.  If you can find used, good luck. They don't come up for sale very often.  Hope this helps.

      Paul B

[Tim Henry]

A few years ago when I lived on st Croix U.S.V.I. I had a Pelikan tandem was the least expensive I could find and was easy to live with just make sure to have extra paddle Tammie and I made the mistake of trying to go to buck island and got caught in heavy current with only 1 paddle almost got pulled out to sea finally got back after about an hour or so needless to say didn't do that again it looked so close from our beach now I know why thy called it pull point

[twowheeladdict]

I am more of a canoe guy because of the ability to sit or kneel when needing a change as well as not being stuck in the "sport car" position which puts a lot of pressure on my lower back.

I have an Old Town Cascade whitewater canoe so not real good on open water, but it is light and I have a wheel kit that allows me to roll it and the gear to the water like a trailer and then fold the wheels to carry with me.

[ozarquebus]

The Folbot Greenland II is my Tandem Kayak of choice , but they have gone under as have Feathercraft and others.
I do have a 2003 Greenland II  I would trade for a Convert and they are around used. Extremely stable recreational expedition worthy boat with open cockpits that allow you to put your knees up or almost lay down. It can also re-configure seating to paddle solo with 500lbs of gear and will accept motormount on side for a 3HP outboard. Will trade for Guzzi Convert since I have a solo Yukon model Folbot, too. See picture below. You can take a folding kayak packed in a sidecar. The tandem  Folbot in two bags weighs about 65lbs. They yellow boat pictured is the solo Yukon and weighs about 42. Portaged on the Boundary Waters in that.

Klepper kayaks would have been my first choice for a tandem, but they are very expensive.

I think LongHaul is still around.  Longhaul are the toughest.

The folding kayaks are the most practical for me, but not good for whitewater.

You can build your own rigid mahogany plywood non-folding beautiful tandem kayak from kits from Pygmy boats and Chesapeake Light Craft.

Kayakfishing is different because you can get into the spots where bass boats don't go while scaring fewer fish away.
No tandem kayak is "easy" lift over your head and put on top of a by car your self in one motion, but I used to do it all the time. If you can have a rack on vehickle that allows you to put one end of boat up first and slide it on: that is easy.

[steven c]

 Cool a Guzzi owner who also has a Flobot! Think different. I have a Cooper. a old kit build 12' and a early 70's tandem which came before the Greenland. Great boats.

[ozarquebus]

StevenC,
I was given one of those older "Big Glider" tandem rigid non folding homebuilt Folbots, like you had. Good stable workhorses. It was given to me by the owner of Folbot Cooper #1: Denis "Go-Be" Gobelli.
I gave it away last year. It had two layers of vinyl skin and was a heavy one. Your Folbot Cooper is more like a racehorse instead of my pack mule GII.
Currently backburner project is a 22 ft skin on frame Zimmerly "East Greenland Kayak". It has pointy ends and made for hauling a butchered walrus...or a BigFoot carcass.

[ozarquebus]

If anybody wants to plan a motorcycle/kayak trip. Count me in.

[tommy2cyl]

I would suggest an option of inflatable.  Check out Aqua glide Chelan HB Tandem XL.  I would limit my choices to something like this with the drop stitch floor that gives stability to the unit.  This one retails for around $1000.00.  There are a lot of options and videos available.  I have owned several hard shell kayaks but next purchase will be an inflatable for so many reasons, storage and transporting to name a few.  They have come along way.  Recommend doing some research.

[n3303j]

Wife & I on Cape Cod Bay.

https://paddlelincoln.com/product/two-lights-tandem-kayak/

A very civilized boat that goes where you point it and has a nice glide. Before I got to be 70 I used to toss this up on the roof of a 4runner single handed. One of the better designed tandem hulls for people who are looking for an efficient boat that is stable and can cover distances with a reasonable amount of effort. Decent room for dry storage below deck.

[80CX100]

I am more of a canoe guy because of the ability to sit or kneel when needing a change as well as not being stuck in the "sport car" position which puts a lot of pressure on my lower back.

I have an Old Town Cascade whitewater canoe so not real good on open water, but it is light and I have a wheel kit that allows me to roll it and the gear to the water like a trailer and then fold the wheels to carry with me.

     I've never paddled a kayak, but I share the same a/m opinion; my neck and back could never take the strain from paddling, sitting flat on my butt. I much prefer a canoe and the flexibility not only of paddling positions, but also in passengers,pets and any load carrying.

     I'm a very big believer in being on my knees with my weight on the lowest part of the hull, the lower center of gravity, makes a huge difference in stability.

     My canoe is a  16' Scott whitewater (Chestnut Prospector clone) with a shoe keel, in Kevlar, it only weighed 52 lbs when new.

     Depending on where you intend to paddle, the one very real advantage a kayak has over a canoe is the low profile for the wind; trying to control a canoe by yourself on big open
windy water, can be a challenge, especially if you're trying to fish; but you'll learn how to modify your technique to match the water and conditions.

     Try not to think in terms of picking up your boat (whatever style) and throwing it up on your truck, that's a recipe for frustration or to get hurt at some point; rather think more in terms of getting the boat into position so you can leverage it up into position.

     Good materials and design of any boat don't normally come cheap and it's a very hot market right now, prices are high for all play things.

     Good luck

     Kelly

[Bulldog9]

Thanks for the feedback all. Much to think about. Not sold on the 'inflatables' at this point.

Here is what I am strongly considering.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BABkXTinfXw

So far unable to fine one used locally, but even others (Old Town, etc) The used market prices are only a couple hundred less. Makes no sense to buy a 3-5 year old boat that weighs 75+ lbs when I can buy new exactly what I want for just a couple hundred more.    I will keep looking, maybe find one in the fall. Would prefer to not 'get in' to this at new full market prices.  I 'assumed" I could pick up a used boat for $250-$300.

Much to consider. I will go with my wife or take my grandkids, but expect to be going solo 50% of the time. If my wife likes it, we may get her her own, will be her call, but I grew up on boats and Canoe's/Kayaks, and love the water, fishing, etc.

 

[n3303j]

Short fat boat that's rough to use a sprayskirt on. At that length vs width it will have poorer tracking and less glide than a longer and narrower boat.

ABS is nice and light and easy to repair. Glass (and other laid up cloth/resin) boats are getting scarce. Because of EPA chemical regulations and the fact that few people want to work with itchy glass and smelly resin that process is disappearing. The production of layups is more expensive too ttime and material wise too.

[ozarquebus]

Bulldog,
 that 14 foot tandem Hurricane 14T looks like a very wet ride. Almost no freeboard and no gunwales. It appears to be just a sea kayak cut out and barely has the load capacity for two people. Looks like good seats and would be suitable for a city lake.  I would keep shopping for something more seaworthy.
here is a couple that appear more seaworthy than that

https://oldtowncanoe.johnsonoutdoors.com/twin-heron-246

https://www.wildernesssystems.com/us/kayaks/pamlico-145t

 Too bad Folbot has gone out of business. here is one on ebay, but it is priced too high and looks a little rough.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Folbot-Greenland-II-2-Person-Folding-Kayak/153537259012?hash=item23bf88a604:g:L68AAOSwhxJdDIVI
LongHaul Kayaks are incredible, but at prices only a politician could afford.
Klepper remains the classic folding kayak prototype having sailed and paddles around the world by many for nearly a century, but priced up there with a good used LeMans.
Nautiraid makes some good folders, but also very pricey out of France.

 The selection of new rigid tandems is very poor.  Many good models have been discontinued, but Kevlar and Fiberglass boats still seem to be available for high end solo boats.


After paddling every type of canoe and kayak for the last 30 years thousands of miles, I'd recommend finding a used Folbot Greenland II in excellent shape for $1000.

 If you have never tried a good folding kayak you will be in for a surprise.  The Gii is very tough, very stable and dry. Some people have camped in the GII sleeping on board in the Everglades.

[Tim Henry]

When I was a kid in Smithtown on long Island
The next town over instead James was the hq of sea eagle inflatables the alway had a few outside the shop for sale they seemed hi quality I believe they're still around

[blackcat]

"Some people have camped in the GII sleeping on board in the Everglades."

Nope, I'd never do that in the Everglades.

[ozarquebus]

Yes, Anne: AKA 'Swamp Girl' of Flamingo, FL used to do camp solo for a week at a time or more in the Everglades every year up until her 70th birthday. She slept in the boat tied up to a mangrove. Alligators, no problem. When I would go into the swamps to camp, I would stay on a designated platform built out there by the NFS called a "chickee". Only had one problem with an alligator and he was a notorious troublemaker known as 'ol one eye' who had a white eye and half a lip missing which made him resemble a crocodile. He had been forcibly relocated 20 miles back in the swamp and of course with my luck,  I paddled back in there and accidentally found him.
 We were sitting on the wooden camping platform dangling our legs just above the water when one of our party looked back. There was ol' one eye about 8 feet behind us and sculling slowly straight for us.
 We pulled up our legs.
Later we had to run him off when I dropped my fancy pocket knife in the waste deep murky water and had jump in to retrieve it.

 When paddling in the 'glades and you come upon a nice flat grassy spot that looks like a good place to pitch a tent, DO NOT CAMP THERE! It is the alligators that crawl up there that made it that way.

This is actual photograph I snapped of Ol' One-eye on his final approach.






SWAMP GIRL



A CHICKEE

[Yukonica]

For the entire 1990's I was GM of the second largest kayak shop on Vancouver Island. I've been to more symposiums than I care to remember and paddled pretty much every brand on the west side of North America from that era. Through that experience I developed a reasonably solid appreciation for the craft.
... and here is my opinion.... :)
If, Bulldog, you have a modicum of carpentry skill I would suggest you research building a skin on frame boat. You control the hull shape and thus cater the performance to your needs. They weight much less than any affordable composite boat and are far more rugged than you'd ever imagine. A boat can be built over a couple weekends and (suspender snap) the materials cost a lot less than even a pig of a roto-molded plastic dung heap. (yes, I'm biased).
Some simple observations: a long waterline is fast. Short is maneuverable. Wide is stable (slow). A pronounced above water bow or stern looks cool but weathervanes. Hard chines track well but pitch in bouncy water. Soft chines feel tippy but take cross wind/water pressure better.
Last comment: a starting resource would be skinboats.org.

[ozarquebus]

this is how far along my skin-on-frame boat is.
next step: bend and attach ribs

[Yukonica]

 

this is how far along my skin-on-frame boat is.
next step: bend and attach ribs

Nice...

[80CX100]

If anyone is interested, found this on Craigslist:

https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/boa/d/beech-grove-folbot-folding-tandem-kayak/7154874708.html

Says Greenland II model and also has a sail and out-riggers.

     I know nothing about those types of boats, but I've rafted canoes together, and am very familiar with how stable good outriggers can be.

     In this day and age for 2k, that is a lot of boat, and if the wind ever blew the right direction, you could put lots of serious safe miles on in a day.

     Very impressive rig 

     Kelly

[ozarquebus]

That G2 on craig's in Indianapolis looks like the final evolution with the best factory upgrades. Aluminum sprayboards (gunwales) and the tubuluar aluminum cross braces. Being a salt water boat look for corrosion on thumbscrew holes in the sprayboards around cockpit. This is where it will be most evident. The out riggers are part of the sail rig, but do not have to be used for sailing. The boat is extremely stable for paddling without sail without outriggers.
 These Folbots typically last for several generations. Hull is almost as hard to puncture a a motorcycle tire sidewall and is made of same material, but comes with a patchkit. I have had 6 Folbots and never a puncture or any other failure for that matter except for an auxiliary aluminum spreader on the deck when a log fell on it in the campsite.
 The Indianapolis boat is worth  no more than $1600 in my book, depending on actual condition. I would resell the sailing rig for $300. They don't really sail that well anyway when compared to a sailing dingy.ie Good downwind, full-and-by or on a broad reach, but not so good close-hauled and usually require a few paddle strokes to come about. The rudder is part of the non-sailing kit, but most people do not attach it. There is also a center paddling position solo conversion frame available. You can stow an incredible amount of gear in these G2s. ie Two 180 lb paddlers 300 lbs of gear or me and 400lbs of gear. I have seen these things overloaded with total payload around 700lbs. They just sit an inch lower in the water and become rock solid. If you are a big boy, this is the boat for you.
 The Achilles heel of Folbots is the inflatable sponson that is is about 4" in diameter in a sleeve that runs the full length of the boat on both sides. When they spring an air leak they can be easily removed and patched, but need to be replaced every decade or so. Aftermarket replacements are available. This internal sponson is orally inflated as last step of boat assembly and adds flotation as a secondary purpose and its primary purpose is to add rigidity and tighten the skin.

 Sun is the worst enemy if stored outside. This Indianapolis boat appears to have salt water stains on hull and one of the longitudinal frames looks  slightly deformed. Check the for broken rivets and bent or cracked longerons. All repairable, but would hurt value.

Really more like an UMIAK than a KAYAK. Its a real workhorse and while it cannot keep up with sea kayaks, but due to its long water line hull speed is rather good and two paddlers can make 20 miles a day if they stay at it.

Here is a great info link:
http://jeeps-folbots-etc.epizy.com/folbot/folbot.html?i=1

[s1120]

Ive not used a tandem..  But I would really try to see if your happy alone on one. SOmetimes the CG of one person can mess it up a bit. I picked up a canoe for me and my daughters a few years ago for when we go camping.. I wanted one big enough to hold 3 people, and a bag or two..  Got a real solid old Old Towne figerglass and it was great loaded down..  Problem is with just me, or with just one kid, its a bear!!  Add to that how big and heavy it is its a struggle to get on the rack..  All in all its gotta go now. It is just too big and heavy. Two guys canoe camping it would be awesome...  one guy, and two girls for a quick paddle around a lake its a PITA.

[Rhodan]

FWIW, I have an Eddyline I like.  You might want to take a look at their offerings if you haven't already.  Mine's a sit-on-top and a lot of fun paddling along a lake or fairly calm inlet.  Not that heavy but I don't have a tandem.