After struggling towards a headwind for the higher a part of an hour, I had some flagging confidence in our inflatable canoe. The idea was good — nice, even — however dealing with a persistent wind in your larger-than-average rubber duck will make anybody query whether or not the commerce was value it. My doubt was short-lived, nevertheless.
Later that day, we met one other group alongside a portage path. They have been struggling below their 12-foot picket shell, and the brand new Alpacka Raft Rendezvous all of a sudden appeared like the perfect answer for canoeists bored with lugging conventional vessels.
Not each journey may be so luxuriously ferried. If the overland carry is simply too far, the bush aircraft too cramped, or the pack animal saddled too low, it’s time to commerce paddle energy for pack measurement.
Original as a tandem raft with sufficient inner storage to outfit a week-long voyage, the complete TPU-construction Rendezvous weighs simply 10 kilos and packs down sufficiently small to slot in your backpack. Attempt that with your loved ones canoe.
Briefly: The Alpacka Raft Rendezvous ($1,700) is a premium inflatable canoe that I examined over a month of paddling in North Cascades Nationwide Park this spring. Its 800-pound capability makes it a load-hauler, and its capability to face in and scout proves it a real voyageur vessel. For individuals who don’t have the funds, space for storing, or transport capability for the standard hardshell canoe, this can be a strong, inflatable choice. It’s simply transportable, sturdy, and floats with the most effective.
For a full rundown on the Alpacka Rafts lineup and extra, take a look at GearJunkie’s full information to The Finest Packrafts.
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Large load capability -
Built-in seat provides rigidity to the boat -
Can stand on the ground to scout or fish -
Cargo fly can maintain a powerful quantity of equipment
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Not as succesful in whitewater as another tandem rafts -
Greater sitting platform means better windage -
Stern may use an built-in deal with
Alpacka Raft Rendezvous: Evaluate
The Rendezvous wasn’t the one new tandem providing from Alpacka Raft this previous 12 months. The brand new Tango is obtainable as a great touring-kayak packraft, and the prevailing Forager raft covers your whitewater leanings. The Rendezvous is the model’s strategy to a canoe.
A 210D hull and 840D ground are held along with RF welding. It’s additionally sewn and double-seam taped, and it makes use of a TPU building. Effectively-placed lash tabs stud the outside and permit for rigging up a bow bag for necessities, whereas inner loops will let you safe dry luggage inside.
It’s clear that Alpacka Rafts aren’t thrown collectively at 5 p.m. on a Friday. With a full weekend and an open expanse of teal water earlier than us, we got down to shake the actual deal out of this raft.
First Paddle Strokes
You study so much concerning the Rendezvous earlier than you even inflate the factor. Whereas rolling out the raft for the primary time inside a floating boathouse on Diablo Lake, all the 11 ft of the craft unfurled with a snap. The large deal lies entrance and heart, which is the built-in thwart that replaces the detachable seat of earlier designs.
I don’t say large deal flippantly, both. This characteristic makes the raft lighter and extra compact than the model’s different tandem craft. It additionally considerably stiffens up the rig. I needed to double-check after I was advised you could possibly stand on the single-ply ground. You certain about that?
The reply, I’d discover out later, was an enthusiastic sure. In the course of the loading of drugs got here the second thought: This factor has ROOM. Our easy in a single day equipment virtually rattled round contained in the boat, and whereas I haven’t tried it myself, the whispers of carrying your skis inside a packraft appear solely possible with the Rendezvous.
A Flatwater Battleship
Paddling the dam-bound reservoirs of the North Cascades is a curious factor. Beholden to the almighty megawatt, the lake stage swings wildly right here. Generally, the water is so excessive you would possibly paddle the nearshore and look down at submerged gardens of kinnikinnick and wild strawberry.
Seeing this requires a sure vantage. The elevated perch the Rendezvous supplies saddled us within the prime place. We may see the subsurface topography laid out plainly beneath us. We bent to our paddles and started dispatching the miles, connecting shore prominences and island clusters.
A packraft is a craft of inherent compromise, and the Rendezvous isn’t any exception. However whereas most all single paddler rafts have a point of monitoring slop, the Rendezvous counters with two paddlers.
By divining a number of the magic of canoe strokes, we simply obtained this craft to maintain to the straight and slim(ish).
Propelling the Rendezvous solo, nevertheless, is a sport of steadiness. Paddling from the rear, I discovered, affords an awesome waggle to deal with and solely much less so from the bow. Finally, I discovered that rowing à la voyageur was the most effective compromise whereas kneeling on the thwart.
Loyal pack rafters might want to supply a distinct paddle to motor this vessel (once more, we borrowed ours from canoe buddies). Should you lack such buddies, the Aqua-Sure Shred Carbon Paddle is nigh important. This collaboration between the model and Alpacka Raft features as each a kayak paddle and two canoe paddles when damaged down. Very good.
Stand, Scout, and Forged
Nearing an archipelago of seasonally liminal islands, we peeled off from our course and landed to discover. Sliding right into a small cove, I kneeled to achieve some vantage to maintain us from kissing the granite. Even disembarking whereas the opposite paddler stays put is a well-balanced act. The Rendezvous performs prefer it’s obtained lead within the keel.
Then, making a splash throughout the span of the lake, we honed in on the fjord-like choke of Hidden Cove — an old-growth hallway with the door left ajar. Right here, too, the power handy the persist with the rear paddler is a boon. That manner, I may maintain myself busy rigging up my fly rod.
It turned out the rumors have been true, in any case. Standing on the bow of the Rendezvous, I used to be capable of swing forged after forged to the nearshore, simply clearing my co-paddler on the again forged. You’ll want an excellent measure of steadiness, after all. However the 43-inch width of the raft makes it much better balanced than most canoes.
All this upright positioning does come at a little bit of a commerce in relation to windage. After lobbing flies till my arm went numb, we returned to the expanse of the lake. The afternoon hole winds have been proper on schedule and blew a wholesome chop throughout our path. Whereas we have been catching simply the preliminary blow, it was nonetheless a bit daunting.
The Rendezvous definitely doesn’t sport a small radar cross-section, and people 13-inch hull tubes catch a number of breeze when perpendicular to you. We confronted these excellent storm circumstances for the ultimate few miles of the day. Missing any kind of keel additionally doesn’t assist. Like most packrafts, you’ll combat for ahead movement within the wind.
Nonetheless, the dual-motor capability of this boat once more is available in clutch. Paddling at odds with each other and angling our bow upwind, we settled right into a sustainable groove and put our heads down. The lengthy water line undoubtedly aided in protecting our momentum up. Stroke by stroke, we pulled throughout the lake.
On-Board Storage
Touchdown on the dock at Buster Brown flats was well-earned, and we set about offloading our in a single day equipment. Once I beforehand paddled the Alpacka Raft Refuge — a juiced-up craft meant to squeeze efficiency whereas limiting weight — the stowage was simply sufficient to accommodate a curated equipment. Not so with the Rendezvous.
The TiZip cargo fly on the stern of this raft is considerably extra beneficiant. Its placement in the course of the tubes permits you to “cut up” the opening wider to accommodate bulkier kits, resembling backpacks with difficult frames. With a lot area, we may have been a bit extra luxurious in our in a single day gear selections.
An 800-pound max capability (be aware: this contains paddlers) additionally means you shouldn’t be hamstrung by hauling weight. Whereas I may solely see coming near that when packing out sport animals, it does permit for the complete sort out field when fishing or a cheeky forged iron pan.
Storing your equipment on the inside of the raft additionally makes it act like ballast. We didn’t discover any considerable distinction in pace when paddling loaded down or not.
Portage Talents & Packability
Like all good voyageur, I additionally needed to choose the Rendezvous on its portage skills. A quick bash via the satan’s membership and slide alder to make camp sorted that shortly. Notes: It carries nicely, however securing your equipment inside appears important. Tip too far a method, and all of it goes sliding!
Right here, I did need an built-in seize deal with on the stern of the raft (although a number of loops are current to rig your individual).
Packed down, this raft will compress to a 20 x 9″ cylinder, which, whereas not mind-bogglingly small, remains to be extra compact than it looks as if it needs to be. That is notably smaller than the same tandem Forager raft and a full 4 kilos lighter. Should you don’t want added muscle for larger water, it’s powerful to not counsel snagging the Rendezvous as an alternative.
A remaining (hard-earned) piece of recommendation: Keep in mind to pack all the things you’ll want all through the day outdoors of the tubes whenever you inflate the boat. A very fats leaping trout despatched me scrambling for my fly rod the following day, which I discovered, to some despair, was stashed beneath me contained in the raft.
Alpacka Raft Rendezvous: Conclusion
The Alpacka Raft Rendezvous ain’t your daddy’s canoe. Neither is it a legendary Grumman, but it surely doesn’t declare it, both. A lot the identical manner that these aluminum shells have turn into near-archetypal for the fashion, the Rendezvous is the technique to do a packraft canoe.
The brand new built-in thwart is a great addition and enchancment over the older Oryx design. It stiffens up the raft to the purpose that it doesn’t want the inflatable ground that the model’s Forager raft sports activities. It gained’t be as depraved of a whitewater craft. However for flatwater transits, the tradeoff in weight and packed measurement makes it a winner.
Standing up within the Rendezvous, surprisingly, is the spotlight of this packraft. From right here, you possibly can scout braided rivers or make strong casts whereas fishing. Being a tandem packraft additionally cracks the journey menu open a bit wider. It even makes piloting the vessel whereas whipping up a mid-river snack simple.
For many who goal to go deep, journey gentle, and catch a number of trout alongside the way in which, it’s powerful to argue this isn’t the canoe you need.