Folding Kayaks Forum

Read in the welcome message that it is mandatory to introduce oneself so here I am.

In my late forties having a daughter talking about how she wants to try out kayaking and it struck me that there were quite some paddling going on when I was young. Turns out my parents still have two Klepper kayaks and they are now in my garage as a renovation project. While feeling quite confident about the plywood-parts, the canvas on one kayak has been consumed by insects and making a new feels like more of a challenge. I hope to be able to try them in water this summer.

Welcome! Sounds like a great father-daughter activity, it certainly was for me. I have very fond memories from younger days when spending time on the water was a wonderful time to share meaningful experiences with my kids. That said, you have quite a challenge on your hands with a degraded Klepper deck. Unless you are very handy and have lots of spare time you may be better off finding a complete skin or maybe even a complete kayak...they are available at reasonable prices ebay and elsewhere. If you go through with the repairs there are a few people on the forum who have considerable experience with that too.

Best, and welcome,
g

_________________
"There is nothing--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats"

1988 A1 Expedition
2010 carbon Klepper Quattro
BSD sail rig, 24' mizzen + 36' main
39' jib
Torqeedo outboard
1938 Sachs-Fichtel seitenbordmotor

The Wayland skins are quite good for a reasonable price—I have one for my Klepper Aerius II. Or you can pay top dollar for a tailor-made solution (depending on where you are—Europe?). Or you can try making your own. If you don't fancy yourself as a seamstress, you can also glue a pvc skin a la Yost, which I've done for a Tyne Prefect. It has worked really well, is reasonably lightweight, but isn't as beautiful as replacing with canvas and hypalon.

It is a good deed to keep these old boats going.

Buying a new skin seems expensive but when you look at how long it should last, 20 years or more. is it really that expensive?. I bought new skins and if the wood is ok you have got what really is ,is a new boat and you will have all the latest innovations. A good thing to on have is keel strips.

there are your skins
http://kajaki-margaret.com/
Victor

Thanks for the warm welcome, I am still in the assessment stage with the kayaks. Waiting for birch plywood to arrive and I plan to do the woodwork first and then see what condition the skin is in. The new skins looks very tempting, Victor, thanks for the link.

So, there are two kayaks, one seem to bee an Aerius I and after making some wooden parts it seems to be in good enough condition.


This is the Aerius I. Put the skin on today (no pictures) and it only needs minor repairs.









Some parts were deformed but it seems that I have been able to make new ones out of birch plywood. They now need to be varnished.

The second kayak is in worse condition and there is some woodwork to be done which I think I can handle. However the skin seem to be in such a condition that it can't be salvaged. I am now looking for someone that can make a new skin.




This seem to be the "Aerius 20" model from around 1976 or so.

Lovely repairs you've made there. I wish I were as skilled at woodworking.

For the skins you are probably looking at near £1000 / €1000 (I know these aren't quite at parity, but this is a rough estimate) for a new skin, give or take a couple of hundred. Wayland should be among the cheaper options, but there are people on this forum who have had bad experiences with them. I possess a second-hand Wayland harpoon kayak, which has served me well; in my opinion the skin is better than the frame. The metalwork catches in particular are not very high quality (perhaps they've improved them since the 2000s). But it goes together and I've paddled it in some challenging conditions. I also have a Wayland skin on an old second-hand Aerius II, and again, I think it has been good value. (But I bought it with the second hand Aerius, so again, I didn't pay the full price, and didn't have to deal with their customer service at all.) There is a guy in the UK, Simon Bolze, who imports the Waylands, which may or may not be an easier option than dealing direct with the Polish factory. http://www.waylandkayaks.co.uk/

Victor's link above looks like an interesting option.

And there is Marcus Heise in Germany. He is the expensive option, but will do a fantastic job by all accounts. Have a search of this forum for some very satisfied customers. http://www.heise-faltboote.de

Others have made their own, and you should be able to find examples, a few with detailed instructions, if you search the 'repairs' section of this forum. I found gluing a pvc skin for my Tyne very satisfying—though there are inevitable imperfections that I'm aware of. Not as authentic as getting a hypalon and canvas hull, and if one can afford it, Marcus Heise is probably the best way to go.

Long-haul are highly praised on this forum, but being in the States, I would expect them to be prohibitively expensive when you factor in customs, vat and import charges.

Seems like this model, the Aerius 20, is one of the more expensive ones when it comes to replacement skins too. I've sent out requests for quotes and we'll see where it lands. I'll continue the repairs on the wooden parts which seem to be the easier part of this project.

The repairs continues: http://www.foldingkayaks.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=8215