We didn’t need another boat, we have an even dozen—mostly small boats, kayaks, and canoes—and yet at the Overland Expo Show in Flagstaff, Arizona, right out in front of the booth run by Kokopelli, makers of a range of inflatable paddleboards and packrafts, sat our next kayak. I should explain that my wife and I are small-boat sailors, canoeists, and kayakers; we also travel in a camper van I’ve built out. On our van trips the focus tends to be hiking and cycling, but in the places we explore there are often wonderful opportunities to get out on the water. The mountain lakes of Maine and New Hampshire, the marshes and tidal rivers behind the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Assateague Island, Maryland and Virginia, are all examples of the waters we’ve camped next to but not paddled. Kokopelli’s Platte-Plus kayak packs into a bag measuring 33″ × 23″ × 12″. Fully loaded (without personal gear) the pack weighs 54 lbs and is well balanced for carrying short distances. Two built-in wheels allow the pack to roll over smoother surfaces.
Photographs by the author
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Have you used the boat yet when it’s windy? That’s when that forward skeg might prove its worth. I see that Kokopelli also use the inflated side tubes themselves for cargo storage. Do you have that feature, and have you tried it?
No storage in the side tubes on this model but it’s big enough to store a fair amount of gear inside and also lash some stuff on the fore and aft decks. We’ve only paddled in a gentle breeze so far, maybe 10 knots, and it tracked nicely without the forward skeg in that kind of wind. The challenge with the forward skeg is that it brings the draft to 8″ at each end of the boat and you can’t pull the bow up on shore. It works fine but you do need to wade into a foot of water to get into the boat. You make a good point though and I’ll be sure to carry the forward skeg on trips in case it pipes up and the skeg is needed.
Nice to see a review of an inflatable, it being after all a small boat. I was most surprised by ‘writing a check’. Did the reseller look at it in confusion?
Thanks Dylan. We’ve got plans to review more of these “portable” boats, when we can. I’m pretty hooked on the concept.
And the check part was a bit of literary license. It sounds so much better then “we took out the plastic.”