Kaskazi Kayaks...aka the Dorado

FYI-there have been SIGNIFICANT advances in composites, including good old glass, since either of your boats were produced.  1968???  I was 3 when that boat was built, thats like judging all cars based on your experience with a 66 Valiant    Besides giant strides in materials, those boats are OLD...like me.  Everything has a duty cycle, and I think you guys were there or beyond.

BTW-patching glass is more of an art than glass mfg.  I have done both for a living and mfg. is 100x easier to do right.  In my experience, most folks dont have the stomach for what it takes to make a structurally sound patch.  A good patch is generally many times bigger than the foot print of the visible boo-boo.

FWIW, the price seems fair to me for a beautiful/functional boat.  That link you posted Sean had a guy saying that sitting on the back end worked fine.  I hope I get to see one of these one day.

As regards rudders, it is just the weight thing.  My last glass boat had a rudder and it worked real well for me.

I want a 45#, 14 foot fishing yak.......with great speed and stability.  I am okay with a low seat, that is what proper attire is for........

Pat

Pat: The Kestrel 140 sounds like your baby.

Blue:  Weight is onlt part of the story.  Things like ductility, rigidity etc. are just as important...as a retro-grouch roadie I am sure you will get it.  If you appreciate old italian steel, you already know there is more to life than weight alone. BTW-As far as I am concerned "Colombus Day" is a holiday about cycling materials 

I want a 45lb 18ft fishing yak

I believe that would be the Cobra Expedition, but I know you've looked at that one.
PS, isn't the off-season great? We do 12 pages on sharks, a few on politics, probably 12 more on fast boats, and then it'll be shark week again!

On the shark thing I still have my money on Bolinas

Bill you start a pool on that one and it would be the only pool I'd throw down money on here
 
 
 

Wouldn't that be ironic Blue wins the pool by being the victim. 

FYI-there have been SIGNIFICANT advances in composites, including good old glass, since either of your boats were produced.  1968???  I was 3 when that boat was built, thats like judging all cars based on your experience with a 66 Valiant    Besides giant strides in materials, those boats are OLD...like me.  Everything has a duty cycle, and I think you guys were there or beyond.

Sean, Paul and I's "old clunkers" are perhaps your best advertising! Boats 30-40 years old, mine still on the water and Paul's decimated by the surf and back in business... Right before I found my used Nomad I talked to the manufacturer, Victor Vitog, and he felt that there was no comparison between a plastic boat and one of his. I don't think he was giving me a sales pitch, just his honest opinion.

Anyways, I need to order approx. 20 at a time to make it a go, so if you know anyone looking for something different, please let me know. Let the discussion (heckling) begin.

Is there anywhere around here to try a Pelican?

Rich:

Thinking about it your totally right...the old boats are definetely testimony.  I will be ordering whatever kind of Kaskazi folks want including the Pelican.

Thinking about it your totally right...the old boats are definetely testimony.  I will be ordering whatever kind of Kaskazi folks want including the Pelican.

I think I'm getting ahead of myself. Compared to what I'm getting, the Pelican is probably lacking in the storage dept., and also seems like it would be hard to place rodholders, fishfinder, etc. The Dorado is obviously much more the fishing machine. You're just hearing the last gasps of a fiberglass addict.

Paul, is your boat an SOT or a lay-on-top? It looks somewhere in between. What brand?

I like the idea of pouring foam into an existing hull as a mold, then lay it up with kevlar and epoxy yourself.

you could carve out the seat and tankwell and hatches exactly as you please.

one option would be to buy a used scupper pro or prowler, fill with foam, just cut the plastic top off and replace
that with lightweight fiberglass for your own deck. keep the plastic bottom for durability.
scuppers would take some attention, but plastic pipes set in the foam would work.

my surfboards are all custom shaped, they custom shape windsurfers too, I don't see why you couldn't get
a hull laid up custom or do it yourself especially if you use an existing hull as a mold.

you could probably find a washed up windsurfer shaper (they are all out of business now anyway), bring your kayak
in, and get a hull shaped from foam from him for a reasonable price.

for what it's worth these epoxy resins are way more durable than the standard polyester resins. I have an expoxy surfboard,
I swear it looks new, I bought it in 1999 and have surfed it a tone. a windsurfer made that one for me. they also use
styrofoam rather than polyurethane foam, it tends to be lighter and stiffer and does not absorb water.

I was surfing the Internet and found these Kayaks. They are made of composites. I have yet to fish the coast but listening to what those who do; want, like and dislike, these seem like they might be of interest. Even though I'm a devout Hobie fan I have to admit that even for freshwater fishing these Yak's seem so well thought out and durable I would consider one if only there was a Mirage drive on them. Just thought I would pass the info on.

http://www.kayak.co.za/kaskazi/models.htm
Kaskasi Kayaks

http://www.macski.co.za/fishingski.htm
Macski

http://www.kayak.co.za/shop/prices.shtml
Kayak Exporter
http://ftlauderdaleyakfishingclub.org/superyaks2/ultimatesuperyaks.html
A "Super-Yak" review site.

That's in the South African Dollar. You'd need to go to yahoo finance to find out what the current exchange rate is. From what I've been reading they run around 1100.00 plus 200-400 for shipping by sea for the Dorado's, as I have not checked what the exchange rate is as of late.

http://finance.yahoo.com/currency?u

Here it is as of Jan 31, 2006:
South African Rand Exchange Rate to the U.S. Dollar
(RAND) 6950 = (USD) $1,147.50

Pretty reasonable for a premium Kayak.

Off topic, but here is a way using foam to make a female mold for vacuum resin infusion.  It will turn out a lighter, and much stronger product...

Here is the link:
http://www.fram.nl/

I'm hoping to try my hand at making on in the next year or so...