Poor Colin Ibbotson. Everything is going wrong this week. First his bombproof winter tarp arrived from the USA with a tear in the fabric. Now his ‘packraft’ has arrived without a valve cap. Colin can inflate the packraft easily enough — something I wondered about — but then just has to sit there and watch it deflate.
Can you imagine how frustrating this is. Neither product was that cheap. However, this is one of the things you have to put up with when dealing with this N American fads!
Still, I’m sure the replacements will arrive shortly. Then we can look forward to some photos of Colin sailing gently down the Spey!
Chin up Col.
ouch….!
not nice, but it does happen from time to time. The anticipation will be all the greater for Colin when the replacements do eventually arrive though!
Valve cap or not i will set sail on monday. I have bodged a makeshift valve cover from a plastic bag and some plastic and now the raft stays inflated for at least 10 mins!
You terrify me sometimes. The Turner packraft has departed the US after a false start though I’m now expecting it to turn up without paddles or something.
Great stuff lads!
I’ve been looking at those myself and it will be interesting to see how you get on. A long term idea of mine has been to follow the Tay from its source to my hometown. If the reports from Colin and Phil are favourable, i may order one myself.:)
I can see it now. Shock new headline
“Loads of Old Codgers floating down the Spey …”
“Mass disaster as plastic boats sink …”
I have an extra valve cap for mine that I could send (but the replacement is probably on the way already). I also have another suggestion for Colin, which, unfortunately may not work for you, since I suspect that most likely your plumbing hardware in the UK is in metric sizes. But, if by chance your plumbing shops have stock items using imperial sizes and threads, you can simply go to your local hardware store (or whatever exactly you call them in the UK) or plumbing supply shop and pick up a standard threaded PVC plug that will work perfectly for this – because the design was intended to use this sort of readily available parts, for just such contingencies as this! I believe that the size needed is probably 1 inch diameter, but I’m not quite certain about that. Maybe it will work out, in case Colin really needs to get out on the water immediately!
By the way, Andy, is your packraft on order yet? Maybe we can get a contingent of UK packrafters over to the US for some additional adventure, and vice versa!
No Rob, but I can see I’ll have no option but to take the plunge as it were.
We’ll need to talk soon.
I reckon the UK packrafters will be completely mad !!!
Colin can inflate the packraft easily enough — something I wondered about — but then just has to sit there and watch it deflate.
This sounds to me like a scarily accurate metaphor for life…
Men and their boats ….
Had my eye on the Alpackas for a while. The trouble is where I live (Holland) there isn’t much opportunity for daring, dramatic whitewater descents, and just for paddling in the lake or canal I think it’s a bit silly really to pay so much. Still it might be handy if the dykes fail.
I don’t think Colin and Phil are considering whitewater either!
Don’t you folks have duct tape over there?!? It’s essential gear here in the states.
Yep Tom — we do