Review: Zelgear Igla 410 kayak

By Gael A

In spite of last ditch efforts to extend its life by another season, I eventually had to resign myself and pronounce my 25-year-old Grabner H2 dead.

I was considering ordering a new H2 from Grabner when my compassionate friend Chris suggested sending me that Ukrainian iK he had been testing. His reviews were convincing, the price was fair, so off it went.

The boxes were delivered to my place in Sardinia several days apart. The smaller one arrived intact, but the second one had suffered some damages during transport from the UK to Sardinia. It was ripped open and barely holding together by the rope previously nicely tied, probably another unfortunate consequence of that ill-fated Brexit (not to mention the paperwork hassle Chris had to go through in order to get the thing shipped over)

To my great relief, there has been no damage to the content and no parts missing.

I proceeded to assemble the Igla. Surprisingly enough, my Decathlon Itiwit pump connected perfectly to the valves, no additional adapter needed. That pump can inflate anything up to 20 psi and is fitted with a pressure gauge which proved useful to get the DS floor at the recommended 5 psi. After that it didn’t take many strokes before the side tubes release valves started hissing.

With the floor and both side tubes inflated, the general shape of the Igla looked fairly elegant, at least as compared with the H2. The V-shaped bottom, the relatively sharp bow and the general stiffness of the boat let me expect superior seaworthiness.

Converting from Solo to Tandem
According to the manufacturer, the Igla 410 is “suited to tandem day paddles with the optional second seat”, which was just my intended program. However this particular model had obviously been fitted for solo paddling only. I had to figure out how to attach the second seat and the rudder pedal board behind the front seat, which I did, thanks to some soft shackles, straps and pieces of shock cords I always keep just in case.

Except for the pedal board, I discarded most of the Zelgear steering system components. The steering lines were too long, the rudder stock was too thin, the rudder assembly was too heavy. I recycled the H2 steering system instead, including the pedals.

I modified the original pedal board in order to make it fit the width of the floor and wedge itself between the lower tubes.

I used thin straps tied to each chunky Igla pedal to fasten the impeccable H2 plastic pedals. The recoil cords are tied to conveniently located tape loops. The base plate is held down by the forward seat adjustment strap, while another strap prevents it to slip forward under the paddler’s thrust.

The steering lines run through another pair of tape loops. So as to accommodate the thicker stock of the H2 rudder, I removed the small metal tube embedded in the Igla’s rudder mount. Both the H2 rudder head and the stock fit perfectly in the Igla’s rudder mount.

The result looked a bit awkward but proved to work pretty well.

Shake down paddle
On a hot and breezy August afternoon I loaded the Igla on my car roof and drove to a relatively sheltered beach for a test paddle before venturing further offshore with my wary and mutinous crew.

I pushed off for a 40 minute solo paddle. First I checked that the steering worked well, which it did.

Sitting high above the waterline, because of the floor thickness, I expected some wobbling but I found the initial stability remarkably good and the secondary stability perfect, thanks to the shape of the lower tubes. The directional stability proved very good as well, I barely needed to use the rudder, even going crosswind.

The crew came aboard and embarked for a 20 minute test paddle. Paddling upwind through some steep chop, and with the bow cutting cleanly across the oncoming waves, we had a fairly dry and comfortable ride. Not sitting in a puddle while paddling was new to us.

The last test for the day was to check how the Igla performed in cross waves. Not only did it hardly roll, but no sea went over the gunwale, and no hard steering was necessary to keep a straight course.

Back to shore I released some air, enough to remove the floor. It required taking off the seats and the rudder pedals board, which is a bit cumbersome. Here we come to the main drawback of the Igla : a lot of grit (sand, gravel, pebbles, shells) get stuck between the floor and the hull bottom, that need to be rinsed off, in order to prevent possible chafing and punctures. It’s also the only way to clean and dry the bilge.

Exploring the Ogliastra islets
This popular destination lies about 1 km offshore. The distance was 1.5 km from the beach. Conditions were excellent, light breeze, minimal swell, flat water, manageable powerboat traffic. It was an easy 15 mn crossing, the Igla was fast and required no effort to maintain a straight course. Then we put the maneuverability on the test by rounding nearly all islets and rocks of this mini archipelago, going through numerous nooks and crannies. My makeshift rudder didn’t go deep enough to allow sharp turns, and the kayak slipped sideways when turning.

We crossed back to the mainland and paddled along the shore against the southerly breeze that had picked up in the meantime. We had no difficulty to move upwind. Unlike the H2, the Igla was not stopped by steep short waves.

We logged 13 km in 2 hours and 45mn, which was a slow average speed but we reached 10 km/h max speed while paddling downwind at the end of the trip. Click link to watch a Relive Reenactment. https://www.relive.cc/web/view/vXvL1jeo47O

Carrying gear
Another issue we have faced with the 4.1-m Igla was the lack of storage space. The DS floor takes most of the inner space. The “horns” leave little room in the fore and aft ponts points, the hold behind the rear seat has no depth, there are no decks that you could tie a bag on. There is barely enough room to put a medium size drybag behind the rear seat.
Gear list: Pump and repair kit in drybag, parasol tied to the front carry handle, water, food and beer in soft cooler, moka coffee maker, gas stove, windscreen, mugs, spoons, knife, groundsheet, beach towels, mats in a large drybag.
Carrying a pump is necessary for a full day trip during the Mediterranean summer. The PRVs let the air go off during the hottest hours, which leaves the tubes soft when the temperature drops down at the end of the afternoon, requiring a few strokes to put the regular 0.25 bar/.3 psi pressure back in.

Another Relive Replay: https://www.relive.cc/web/view/vKv2YKpNZ4q

Rough conditions
As it happens in the Mediterranean, one day we met a sudden weather change near a conspicuous stack called the Pedra Longa, about 5 kms from our launch site, with no exit routes in between. In a few minutes, the wind picked up from light air to a solid F5 northeasterly breeze, raising steep 3 foot waves, and soon the sea was covered with many white horses. The crew being too scared to paddle, I had to steer the Igla singlehandedly most of the way back to shelter, which took about 1 hour.
In these unnerving circumstances, the Igla performed splendidly and demonstrated its seaworthiness: solid stability, going in straight line in the following sea, with little tendency to broach when hit by a steeper wave, and little water splashing over the gunwale.

Conclusion
Some comments on Chris pros and cons

Everything in the huge bag except a paddle
Removable DS floor for quick rinsing and drying
Unusually light on the water, easy to keep going straight.
Adjustable footrest tube, but useless in tandem configuration
Seat feels great – confirmed by the crew
Knee braces are stock – yes , but I didn’t install them
Twin (stacked) side tubes keep width down
Ready for optional rudder (supplied) – good rudder mount, needs a different rudder
Closeable sidetube PRVs – don’t forget to close those PRVs when the temperature drops.
Fittings for a deck (supplied) – if you need a deck, if not those fittings are annoyingly protruding
Three-year warranty

Poorly designed but complicated steering system
No standard tandem layout fittings
Limited storage space. The inside space is mostly filled with the DS floor, especially the “horns”
No beam spreader bar. If the DS floor deflates , the boat would collapse inward under the weight of the paddlers.
Like many PVC IKs, it’s bulky (if not necessarily heavy)
Alloy skeg appears to be an extra; and would prefer it in plastic – I would prefer no skeg and good rudder. Skeg can’t be removed without deflating DS floor – a skeg is an annoying accessory that gets snag when paddling over shoals and prevents landing safely in shore breaks

Gumotex Seashine: the hybrid Seawave

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Ses also:
Gumotex Seawave
Hybrid IKs (DSF)
Zelgear Igla

Thanks to Marcin for alerting me to the long-awaited drop-stitch floor (DSF, or ‘hybrid’) Seawave. It’s called a Seashine, a link between the old Sunny, Solar and Seawave? Why not.
Length is 4.7m or nearly 15.5 feet with 82cm width. That’s 20cm longer and 4cm wider than a Seawave, or the same width as a Rush 2. Weight is said to be 18 kilos; 500g more than Seawave.
I really liked my hybrid, 4.15-m Zelgear Igla (with a removable DS floor) which was half a metre shorter and 10cm narrower (thanks to twin or stacked sidetubes). A 15+ foot IK is a lot of boat for solo paddlers; more pitched at families or a fast and spacious sea tandem?

This is Gumotex’s third DSF IK, starting with the, simple, flat-floored Thaya (basically a hybrid Solar, which they still sell for £300 less) and the lighter Rush 1 and 2 which was a new model in 2020 and had a more convoluted DS hull. The new Sealight resembles an elongated and wider Seawave, but without the Rush’s hydroformed and more complex DS bow and stern. Underneath there’s a shallow V-shaped DS floor too, changing to flat profile at each end, like a hardshell sea kayak. They’ve done a good job of smoothly integrating the DSF into the regular but lengthened Seawave ‘chassis’. As someone observed, a boat this long might well benefit from a rudder.
Right now there’s nothing on the Gumo website and little on its SM pages, but a couple of YT ‘IKfluencers’ have received test boats.

The Seawave was a great IK. I had two and improved one with higher rated side tube PRVs to gain some stiffness. It cost little and worked well. A DS floor is another way of doing it and eliminates the traditionally fragile I-beam element (left; an old Semperit).
What are the benefits of a V-profile DSF? Better tracking than a smooth, flat floor, I suppose, but on the Igla a skeg saw to that. Better speed along with the added length? You’d hope so. The ability to edge like a hardshell? That doesn’t really work with IKs. A distinctive but functionally ambivalent look to outdo competitors? Gumotex won’t be the first to try that ;-) Only a comparison alongside a Seawave as well as the 4.2-m Rush 2 would tell, but it’s got to be a bit faster than either of them.
Unfortunately, if a Rush 2 rrp is now nearly £2000 rrp, the Seashine price may well prove distinctly Grabner-esque, even if it’s just a stretched Seawave. I do see new Seawaves reduced to £1000, with R2s going for £1500. A grand for a Seawave is a great deal. They say prices are going up again in 2024.

IK&P Competition. Win Free Books!

Congratulations to winners: Roger H and Dan S!

It was competition time here at IK&P. Answer a simple question to win three lavishly illustrated paddling books by Fernhurst Books, including their new Paddling Adventures; 100 Epic Experiences with a Paddle out in November for £20.
Inside, browse over 200 pages of gonzo whitewater, sublime sea kayaking, surfing, canoeing, paddleboarding and heck, even packrafting, with a couple of contributions by me, as well Rob from Mekong Packraft, including southern France’s lovely Allier.

I’ll also include a copy of my Inflatable Kayaking and Packrafting Beginners’ Guides, also by Fernhurst. Three books and enough paddle action and ideas to see you through the winter.

To enter the competition and a chance to win one of two sets of the three books worth £40 and post free anywhere, answer this simple question:

What is ‘IK&P’ short for?

Answer: Inflatable Kayaks & Packrafts

If you can’t wait, buy the books discounted from Amazon here:
Paddling Adventures; 100 Epic Experiences with a Paddle
Packrafting: A Beginner’s Guide
Inflatable Kayaking: A Beginner’s Guide

TXL+ Packrafting Beachy Head and Seven Sisters

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Anfibio Sigma TXL+ main page
English South Coast Day Paddles

It’s less than two weeks to the autumnal equinox, but at nearly 33°C, today will be the hottest day of 2023 so far. It’s been over 30 for days now so you do wonder what it’s going to be like in 5 or 10 years time. More sea to paddle, that’s for sure.
Today there’s barely a breeze; a fine day for a 10-km paddle around Beachy Head and the chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters to Cuckmere Haven before walking back. I’ve had this one on the list for years as an IK trip. Today is the day, but with a packraft.

Tottering on Safari, 2004. Does my body look big in this?

It was Christmas Day, 2004 that I took my first ever IK for a tentative spin on the Cuckmere estuary and thought: shite, what have I done! The used Gumotex Safari was tippier than a one-legged stool and meandered more than the Cuckmere river itself. Luckily it was mostly the boat, not me. I soon swapped it for a Gumo Sunny and never looked back.
No worries about stability today. In the intervening decades packrafting got popularised and I’m trying out my new Anfibio TXL+, the length and width of a patio door.

Down in Eastbourne the forecast was a moderate 25, but at 8.30am it felt like that temperature already.

I cheat by putting in at the westernmost end of Eastbourne, a south coast town associated with genteel retirement homes. A neap tide is two hours into its ebb and light easterly winds were following it.

Looking for possible traps, I found a 15-year old kayaking report with pics of offshore breaking waves. I study a marine chart and am none the wiser, but realise that, like the Jurassic Coast, submarine ledges (or wave-cut platforms as I recall from geography) are a fairly normal thing off the South Coast, and breakers will move in and out depending on tide heights and the wind.

As I put in a swimmer bobbed up from the depths and asked:
‘Is that one of them Blowie things?’
I’d not heard this expression outside of the fly-ridden Outback.
”ow much do they cost, then?’
I delivered the fatal, four-figure Euro-sum. He dipped back down and slinked away like a seal. Another paddleboarder is born.

Initially the TXL+ feels dog slow – an unseen back eddy off Beachy Head? I now know it will pass so I keep going.
It’s unbroken cliffs all the way to Cuckmere with one exit halfway at Birling Gap where a staircase climbs up from the shingle to a car park and cafe. I can take out there, and if I’m knackered at Cuckmere, there’s the scenic bus 12 every 15 mins from nearby Exceat. There’s also an option to carry on all the way to Land’s End then ride the back of a whale to the Azores.

Sea kayakers coming in. They don’t have to carefully plot trips around tides and winds and bus routes.

As I round the corner towards Beachy Head the impression of speed picks up as I join the westward stream. Up ahead the lighthouse, but before it some breaking waves on Head Ledge. White breaking surf is easy to see on a day like this, but you still need to keep your eyes left for bigger swells which rise up out of the blue.

The children’s book outline of Beachy Head lighthouse alongside the highest chalk cliffs in Britain (162m; 530′). I gave up trying to find taller chalk sea cliffs anywhere in the world.

Round the corner I pull in for a yellow-label sandwich. Something about the sunshine, warmth and the gleaming white rock makes the way ahead less intimidating. I remember feeling the same in tropical Australia in much less calm conditions.

An overhead paraglider eyes up my seafood and florentine wholemeal bap and prepares to swoop.

Who remembers the 1968 film, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? The magic car’s first airborne sortie is at Beachy Head and its distinctive red lighthouse, though I see they spliced a bit of IoW Needles in there too. Did they really think people would let it slide and not contact their MPs?

And in Quadrophenia released a decade later, depressed Mod Jimmy decides to do a ‘Thelma & Louise’ and end it all on Beachy Head (as many sadly do in real life) while The Who sing ‘I’ve Had Enough’.

I remember reading in the 1970s that with ice axes and crampons, this soft but vertical chalk was good practice for ice climbing. No need for all that sub-freezing clobber.

On the geologically contiguous Isle of Wight, these Red Bull lightweights are top roping.

At the peak of the modest ebb and I hit 6.4kph and get a nosebleed.
I look back and say goodbye to Beachy Head lighthouse…

… before bidding bonjour to Belle Tout lighthouse up on the cliff top. It got decommissioned in 1904 after 80 years as it was too foggy too often up there. Beachy Head lighthouse nearer sea level replaced it. Apparently both mean the same thing: ‘fine headland’ (beau chef became ‘beachy’). You can learn so much from Wikipedia.

Sooner and with less effort than expected, I approach Birling Gap where there is road access. But first I have to paddle out around more deadly offshore breakers.
Beyond stretch the Seven Sisters to Cuckmere. Suddenly it all seems eminently doable.

Paddleboarders. Must be getting close to their lair at Cuckmere.

Heck, I even see one of those FDS IKs! Good to see one in actual use.

Strange buttress and cave formations appear. Would be fun to investigate out of Cuckmere or Birling one time.

At one point the TXL+ starts aquaplaning. I recognise this feeling so tighten the straps and respond in kind, doing the full torso pivot thing. I’m aiming for 7kph, but only hit 6 briefly with the waning ebb. Oh well, that must be the terminal hull speed of a dumpy TXL.

A flotilla of gulls patrol the entrance to Cuckmere Haven, as they have done since the Domesday Book was compiled.

In the warm backwinds my new Kokatat PFD has been much less sweaty than expected. It also has loads of pockets.

Cuckmere beach.

Before I get there I pull over and stagger around on seaweed-clad boulders for a bit.

And take one last sea level glimpse along the Seven Sisters. What an enjoyable paddle that was. Another long standing ‘WLTD’ ticked off, but in a packraft, not a nippy IK. I fail to find the river inlet which must have moved a bit since my GPS map was made.
I’ve got it in me, but it’s going to be a hot old slog back to Eastbourne.

I flip the TXL+ and let it drain. An effortless 2.5 hours that took.

In the bag. Now for the hard bit.

What’s going on up there? Nothing much, just sunshine and enough space to enjoy it. Plus Taylor Swift handing out NFTs.

Seven Sisters means at least 7 brotherly ascents. It’s baking hot and I’ve got 500ml water left and dodgy knees, so for once I pace myself and use the paddle as a stick.
Up top you can see why this is such a popular walk; there’s loads of room to spread out on the vast expanse of magically trimmed grass with lovely sea views alongside.

Up on the cliffs it’s like some sort of diversity sponsored walk. I hear Spanish, Polish Urdu, Japanese, Estuarine, and what seems like a lot of first dates, judging by overheard chatter. I know no one’s carrying a packraft and all, but how do these fragrant young persons manage to not look like they’ve been dragged through a seaweed sauna by a JCB?

I make a mess of the toilets at Birling by indulging in a basin shower, but by Belle Tout lighthouse tout is not belle. I’m as parched as Pharaoh’s frog. Luckily there’s a smidgen of shade and a cafe selling reasonably overpriced ice lollies.

Local entrepreneurs have trained gulls to ride the thermals in search of dropped iPhones. Talking of them, this is the first time I’ve used a cheap cracked iPhone or any phone as a camera. The pics are pretty good, but you need two hands to hold and shoot, the lens is 28mm and any zooming soon gets ropey. As I walk into Eastbourne the battery is spent after only 130 shots and some mistaken video, but as a light day-camera I might get used to it.

Leaving Belle Tout with ice-chilled innards, it suddenly feels like it’s 5°C cooler. And the sight of stripey Beachy lighthouse suggests it’s not so far to go.

That was me down there not so long ago. The ice’s cooling effect doesn’t last, so after the long climb up to the 500-foot Beachy Head summit, I pull over for a cliffside rest which turns into a snooze.

I wake up and the cliff edge is cracking. Guard ropes are intermittent, broken and much ignored. Much refreshed after my nap, a head breeze has kicked up and I’m now less of a dripping mess. Someone needs to write a new self help book ‘The Power of Resting’. Oh, they already did. This groundbreaking book takes a fresh look at the role that rest plays in the quality of your life, offering a proven program to enhance your health, help you look younger, and feel restored. The Power of Rest provides a low-cost, low-risk answer to … Give it a rest!

Eastbourne by George! But a steep, knee exploding descent lies just ahead.

Weary, lovelorn pilgrims make their way towards the finish line to collect their certificates.
‘Fancy getting a pizza later?’

Paddling Seven Sisters, highly recommended, whatever you got.

In case you ever doubted it, Float, Don’t Walk.

Anfibio TXL Plus+ Out of the box

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Anfibio Sigma TXL+ main page

My 18-month-old TXL sold on ebay and I’ve just received a TXL Plus+ which I discussed earlier. Same boat but blue, heavier and with 80% more tear resistant hull fabric thanks to a denser weave and thicker 420D fibres. The floor is now full-weight 840D with extra coating. All that and it only costs €70 more than a standard TXL. Anfibio TXL page. Put that down to advances in TPU fabric technology. What is not to like?

Who knows how the ‘80%’ is calculated, but for the small weight increase, I’m in. For me, mostly paddling the coast alone, durability trounces light weight. If there’s a heavy duty version of anything, I’ll usually take it.

My TXL+ comes in a striking colour they call Pacific Blue but whose true hue can be hard to replicate on screens. I know from book cover printing that blue can be maddeningly inconsistent – WYS is not WYG. You will see the variations on this page – and that’s before we get into the subjective ‘was the dress gold or blue?’ argument. Anyway, I love my TXL+’s dark turquoise with tealy overtones.

One thing I was pleasantly surprised by was the lightness of the box when I picked it up from the parcel depot. Did they miss something out? Nope, but back home, rolled up on the trusted kitchen scales (calibrated to <1% error, fyi), my bare TXL+ came in at 2971g or just 201g heavier than my green one. Weights may vary a bit but the dimensions are as below.

Blue TXL+ is the same size but 200g heavier: 2971g

All Sigma TXLs now have the skeg mounted further forward. On the first batch the skeg was only half submerged (left) and not fully effective. Anfibio haven’t moved the skeg onto the floor, as I did with mine, but straddling the stern and the floor (below left).

On my new boat it’s one less gluing job and thinking about it, it’s actually a better position, too. The curvature of the inflated stern where it meets the floor adds tension which holds the skeg securely in place and it’ll probably still stay submerged on flatwater.

With my version on the floor sheet, there was more submergence but less tension. The other day the skeg got dislodged as I got washed to and fro onto a rocky ledge while landing. It was a fluke of course, and luckily I noticed the skeg lying in a rock pool before I set off again. It’s one reason I stick hi-viz tape on my skegs (the main one being while packing up it’ll get forgotten in the shingle).

The TXL+ comes with the same, huge TubeBags giving 200L of in-hull storage (right). The new zips are exceedingly stiff and the tiny zip pulls don’t help. As before, I zipped on a zip tie and even then it was quite a tug until all was lubed with silicon and it now runs like a rocket sled on rails.

I included the +’s BNIB seats with my green TXL as my own seating is too bodged and ‘specialised’, but am told that the valve caps can now jam the sprung one-way valve open (left) for hands-free deflation. That’s a big improvement on the ‘press-valve-with-fingernail’ version that I crudely adapted to a Twistlok, and now means you can fully deflate the seatbase easily, even if it won’t be that fast.

As on my green TXL, I’d glued on 4 tabs for my knee straps. I don’t have the green TXL at hand, but it did look like the OEM threadable strap loops on the top of the side tubes (right) are a bit chunkier. Knowing how little tension I actually put on the knee straps, I thought I might risk using them for the rear strap attachment point. But in the end I decided the further back position (as on the green TXL) was better, especially as I’ve lately noticed that with Multimat and MRS footrest fitted, I sit quite a lot further back.

Top left: The bits you will need to stick on 4 attachment loops. Top right: Watching attachment loops dry. Below: Wait a bit then apply another coat, wait a bit more then position the loop and heat with a hair dryer to reactivate glue (it was so hot today it kept shutting down; I had to ‘suction cool’ it with a hoover). Bottom left: Put on a hard surface and get stuck in with the roller. Bottom right: Stuck on after rolling
I love the way dried Helaplast magically turns sticky under some heat. Full gluing procedure described here.

I didn’t receive one but I am told Anfibio have refined the mini handpump too. It’s basically an adapted party balloon pump anyway and costs only €10, but they now have a version where the nozzle screws off (left). Good idea as I can see a pump getting snapped with an unlucky whack while in transit.

I mentioned here about repositioning the inflation valve forward for easier topping up on the water when solo. Big-volume packs like a TXL can go a little saggy after a few minutes paddling on cold water – you only notice the light crease in the sides when sat in the middle. But on my last couple of outings with the Multimat, that didn’t happen; the flood pad did it’s job in constraining sag. Not having to over-inflate to get the boat firm is desirable; just enough pressure to get the job done. Problem is, my Multimat has already been repaired once and weighs nearly a kilo. Oh well, you can sleep on it too.

The 840D floor is reassuringly heavy duty, with a textured interior and a smooth, waxy exterior to glide across the brine. On my last Alpackas I went through a phase of light 420D floors then reverted back to a full 840D. Floors are at the sharp end so need to be durable, though of course they’re dead easy to repair.
In the end it’s hard to tell if my blue, TXL+ hull fabric is thicker than the plain TXL. It’ll all be in the mind, like the blue/gold dress.

TXL+ maiden paddle with true-blue photos here.

English South Coast Packboating

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Search also: ‘Thames’

A map below with links to the dozen or so day trips I’ve written about on the more interesting sections of the South Coast of England using IKs and packrafts.
You need to click the map’s top right ‘Full screen/View larger maps’ icon to get to the actual map where each route has the link to the post on this website. Or just search the category ‘English South Coast‘.

Quick review: Kokatat Leviathan PFD

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In a line
A busty PFD at a great price and more pockets than the Crucible in May.

Weight
1.01kg (size M/L)

Cost
£40 (heavily discounted on ebay)

What they say
The ultimate kayak fishing life vest, the Leviathan has 14 pockets and multiple fixture options allowing anglers to carry lures, tools, and gear wherever they choose. This high-back, performance, recreational life vest features body-mapped Gaia foam panels contoured precisely to allow the life vest to wrap the torso in a secure fit. Fleece-lined handwarmer pockets are a bonus for those chilly days. This Life Vest is certified for use in both the US (by The US Coast Guard) and Canada (by Transport Canada). You do not need to select a certification. The life vest is dual certified for both countries.

Review
I read somewhere that a PFD loses its buoyancy over the years and should be replaced once in a while. In that case my 15-year-old, much travelled Kokatat Bahia Tour (right), bought at REI, Denver in 2007, must be well overdue for retirement to a golf resort in Spain. It’s been discontinued, and the Leviathan could be headed that way too, judging by the discounts.

Kokatat make some reassuringly expensive dry suits and sponsor big sea kayaking adventures, so it’s a trusted brand. I’ve never tested my old Kokatat, by choice or surprise, so have never experienced its floatability. Hopefully I’d not sink like a stone, but with a GPS in one pocket, a camera in another and a rescue knife, a bit more flotation might not go amiss. As it is I’m at the upper range of it’s body mass index
When I spotted the Leviathan for just £40 on ebay (normally about £150), I set aside any stylistic reservations and clicked BIN. My compact, inflatable Anfibio Buoy Boy is OK for easy rivers or short crossings, but doesn’t claim to be a certified PFD and would be inappropriate alone on the open coasts around here in Dorset where you want to feel secure.

The Leviathan is a paddle fisherman’s PFD which explains the vast array of pockets. They’re handy, but I knew straight away 14 was OTT, even if four are tiny mesh pouches and two more are handwarmer slots. All this storage, along with generous foam implants give the Leviathan a busty appearance, even before you pack it with fishing paraphernalia. Or maybe I’ve had another well-fed summer. It won’t be as discreet to wear as a Buoy Boy. I’m not sure what the corrugated grey plastic blocks are, velcro’d on the mesh pockets. I’ve seen this on ‘tactical’ clothing: possibly for attaching insignia?

I like a front zip PFD, but will miss the second upper clip under the zip, as on my Bahia. It meant you could paddle on hot days with the PFD unzipped but still snug fitting.
But one thing the Bahia lacked was a large pocket for a mobile phone in its waterproof pouch. If you paddle with a phone for safety, the advice is to have it on your person, not stashed awat in a dry bag somewhere on your packboat cartwheeling away downwind. The olive colour I quite like, though I admit it lacks the visibility of my Bahia’s faded mango.

My Leviathan was not one hour out of the box when I set about it with a scalpel to trim the pocket count by 43% (6 pockets) while barely losing any functionality.

That done, I transfered my whistle, knife, biner and camera leash (in a pocket) from the Bahia and am ready to try it out on my next paddle.

TXL; More Jurassic Coast Packrafting

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Anfibio TXL main page
Kimmeridge ledges
Swanage stacks
Dancing Ledge
Packraft sailing to Lulworth

‘Calm… caaaaalm’. It’s what you say to a hyperactive child. But it’s also what you observe as you scan a weather forecast: 3-4mph onshore southerly, backing southeast later. With sunshine too, it could be the Last Good Day of the Summer.
I left my moto just as they’re opening the gate down to Tyneham ghost village. From there the Mrs drives me on up the coast to lovely Lulworth Cove for a sneaky 9am bacon buttie. I do worry about my B12 sometimes.

“Oh wow!” squealed a little girl as she also arrived with her family at Lulworth beach. And you can see why; it’s an amazing natural feature which, long with others help make Dorset’s Jurassic Coast a UNESCO site. Within an hour the renowned amphitheatre would be standing room only but hey, it’s August on the South Coast; if you want a lone beach, pack a mac and go to the Outer Hebrides.

Red shaded area is army firing range which – land or sea – is usually closed.

Today’s plan was head east 9km to Kimmeridge Bay as I gradually joined the dots packrafting Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.
This time last year Barrington and I sailed here from Ringstead Bay near Weymouth, before getting sent into Lulworth Cove by a patrol boat. The following eastward section of coast is an army firing range that’s only open to the public on weekends or throughout the August holiday season. And even then, some landing spots are closed and inland you have to stick to the paths in case you step on or pick up an unexploded bomb. Tragically that happened in 1967, though thankfully only once and as a result, today warning signs along the footpaths are everywhere.

Once out of the cosy Cove, the first section should be easy enough, but if not I could hop out at Warbarrow Tout, walk a mile to the bike at Tyneham and ride home. Continuing all the way to Kimmeridge depended on confidence and energy levels, and how the sea actually looked once out of the sheltered Cove.

Today I’ve remembered everything, including my repaired Multimat floor pad. All you need is to get into a routine. And as I set off towards the Cove’s mouth the TXL definitely has its glide on. I have two hours before the tide turned and the wind with it, but right now the boat felt great. I even remembered to pull up my knees straps, and felt nicely connected between the TXL and my paddle blades

Towards Mupe Rocks I had the odd sensation of offshore waves bouncing off the cliffs – it made getting close tricky. I see on an online marine chart (below) the seabed drops off quickly here so the swell just rolls in and boings back out.
They say there’s a petrified tree here somewhere – or ‘Fossil Forest’ in over-heated tourist-speak. But I learn later it’s by a path on the cliff top where there are also periodic radars (left) and other sinsiter MoD installations.

Mupe Rocks turn out to be rather ordinary remnants of fallen cliff, not like the gleaming white chalk stacks I paddled last week near Old Harry. With no interesting arches or caves, I thread about but they’re a bit disappointing.

Seaweed streams reassuringly eastwards with the rising tide, and as I round the corner Mupe Bay opens up, revealing half a dozen moored sailing boats. Behind them rise the steep chalk cliffs which you can see for miles down the coast.

Mupe Bay and Warbarrow, a day or two later.

I wonder about putting ashore at a gap in the cliffs called Arish Mell because I can. But perhaps I can’t, even in August, if I have interpreted the map warnings correctly.
Behind the beach I spot some huts, shipping containers, pickups and activity. As it is, my equilibrium is disturbed by some strangely large waves rolling in across the middle of otherwise calm Warbarrow Bay. A submarine shelf? They’re not crashing ashore as far as I can see, but I decide to stay out in the Bay.

Turns out Arish Mell is off limits 24/7/365, using the proven UXO gambit which didn’t seem to be bothering the chappies ashore today.
Another possible reason may be that from around 1959-1990 give or take, ‘slightly radioactive effluent’ was piped out here from the former Winfrith nuclear research facility a few miles away near Wool. They’ve been decommissioning Winfrith ever since and we should be grateful that with much effort they saw fit to extend the outfall pipeline two miles out to sea. You can see the pipe on that marine chart above. Coincidentally, this week Japan started doing the same thing at the damaged Fukushima reactor, raising the ire of Chinese seafood enthusiasts. Meanwhile, this well-produced 1959 Atomic Energy Authority promotional film describing the pipeline project seems very proud of itself.

So I set course for the conical headland of Warbarrow Tout at the far end of the Bay. The sinister waves subside and something else changes: the TXL glides across the smooth surface effortlessly as I am able to draw a long, slow, kayak-like paddle cadence, not the usual thankless spinning.
Later the GPS data revealed the combination of windless conditions and the Multimat helped the raft skim along at up to 6.2kph or 3.8mph. I’m not sure it’s ever sailed that fast so, even aided by the final hour of a modest, metre-high tide, that’s quite impressive.

Actually, I don’t know why I’m so surprised. Although I seemed reluctant to admit it at the time, the first time I tested the TXL with the Multimat in the Summer Isles, the evidence was right there (left), even if it wasn’t night and day.

As I neared the Tout I was anticipating some sort of disturbance from an eddy being pushed out by the eastern hook of the Bay. Sure enough, the TXL passed over a patch of incongruous clapotis without breaking it’s stride, but as I moved on past Pondfield Cove (a mini Lulworth) something changed again – the boat seemed to slow to a crawl. The coastline was creeping along but a check the GPS only registered a slightly slower speed.

As usual with winds, other anomalous currents and flotillas of irate pirates, I wondered if this would set in or get worse all the way to Kimmeridge, with get-offs but no take-outs along the way. I decided to carry on below the Gad Cliffs to the prominent Wagon Rock and if nothing changed, I’d turn back and walk out to Tyneham.

Gad Cliffs. Dorset’s cubist Mount Rushmore

But by Wagon Rock the countercurrent had subsided and the GPS later showed I resumed the steady 6kph pace. Sea paddling alone an inappropriate boat makes you more alert to minute changes in conditions which a sea kayak would carve through with barely a shrug. I later wondered if it was possible the eddy from the hook formed by Warbarrow Tout could draw back or suck in a current ‘beyond’ itself, as shown below. Who can fathom the mysteries of fluid dynamics.

Beyond Wagon Rock the grey sweep of Brandy Bay‘s oily shale cliffs plunged down to the sea. Up ahead I was reassured by the sight of Clavell Tower, just 3km away, marking the far side of Kimmeridge Bay. Less comforting was the breaking water between me and it: the ledges of Broad Bench spotted when I paddled the Igla here a few weeks ago. It would be alarming to have one of these rise up on you out of the blue (below).

As always, the solution to such unpredictable seaside disturbances was to paddle further out, even if the instinct (and interest) was to hug the shore. I aimed for the distant St Adhelm’s Head and safely rounded the churning maelstrom of Broad Bench, with the bedrock visible a few feet below. That done, the crossing was in the bag and I worked my way towards the beach where crowds were streaming down to the shore with their dogs. Nine clicks covered in less than two hours from Lulworth. Not bad.

A few weeks ago we walked the coast from Tyneham on a very windy day. At low tide the ledges at Brandy were a froth of white foam (above). Today, walking back 4km to Tyneham, the Long Ebb shelf delineating Hobarrow Bay was already emerging from the retreating tide. Looking back I was reminded the nearby big shelf (left) behind Broad Bench was worth a nose about for fossils or dubloons, even if MoD poles discourage this and you can only access it by boat. It’s one for next time.

Midday and Tyneham car park is already packed. Another section of the Jurassic ticked off or recce’d for another pass. Hopefully there’ll be a chance to do the 6km from Kimmeridge to Chapmans Pool before we roll up for the winter. That will leave the two points of St Adhelms and Durlstone for the next caaalm day.

Packraft air pressure

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What air pressure does a typical packraft run?
1 psi, 1.5, 2.5?
Answer at the bottom of the page.

Air bagging. Air bagging. Oh isn’t it wild?

Most inflatable devices come with an air pressure rating at which they perform best, including inflatable kayaks which run from 2psi/0.14bar up to 10psi/0.7bar in drop stitch.
On the cheapest vinyl Intex or Sevylor dinghies, as well as slackrafts there won’t be a number, instead you get a ‘stretch gauge‘ (left). With a Sevy you keep pumping until a sliding black tab settles between A and B; your squishy slackraft is probably now at less than 1psi but is good to go. Add a bit more air to try and make it feel less of a water sofa and the thing will burst a seam. It may do that anyway if you give it a week or two or look at it too long.

Right from the start packrafts never had air pressure ratings. You just aired it up with a flimsy nylon airbag (above) until you couldn’t get any more in. The airbag idea was surprisingly effective once you got the knack, and the bag weighed next to nothing. You then unscrewed it without trying to lose any air, quickly screwed on the cap, then topped off by mouth via the separate twist lock elbow valve (left) with all you had in your lungs. The more you blew the firmer you boat became – and that definitely made a difference to response on the water. It helped if you didn’t smoke and played lead trumpet in the local jazz band.

Once on the water all inflatable boats cool down and the hard-won air pressure inside drops a bit so you have to top it up again to get the boat firm.
What was the air pressure? As much as possible but what did it matter as you couldn’t overdo it with your lungs. Stronger lunged paddlers and opera singers paddled firmer boats. And anyway, such very low pressure would be difficult to measure with a normal handheld manometer.

These days most packrafts use simple and effective one-way Boston -type valves (left) which screw off for a wide open ‘fast inflation’ port for airbagging, but have a one-way valve built into the cap for topping up, just like a car tyre. What goes in, stays in so you can build up pressure and get the boat good and firm. No more crumby twist-locks and undignified topping up by mouth.

Better still, inexpensive pocket electric inflators like Flextail (above left) do the job of airbagging while mini handpumps (above right; adapted from party balloon inflators) can do the important topping up without giving yourself a lung hernia. But what’s the air pressure!? Who cares, it’s better than it used to be provided you could pump the handpump with all you had – I find it takes 100 jabs. A Flextail or similar will burn out long before it can get close to a handpump’s final pressure.

**Tip**: all these pumps are handy but I always leave an **airbag** in my packraft’s storage pockets in case the Flextail packs up or I forget it. Otherwise it will be a lot of blowing or handpumping to air a boat up. And with a Boston-type valve as above, a short section of half inch garden hose makes inflating by mouth much easier should you’re topping-up handpump pack up too.

Kokopelli and French-made Mekong packrafts (and maybe others) feature a RIB-style Leafield D7 push-fit inflation valve. That’s push-fit as opposed to more secure bayonet fitting as on proper IKs and iSUP boards. It’s what Gumotex IKs used years ago and is actually not a bad idea on a packraft as the pump nozzle on the end of a hose will blow off the valve as pressure climbs, meaning you have to try hard to over-inflate the boat.

But these one-way valves have now made over-inflation a possibility, and we know how that can end. However, one thing we’ve learned with TPU packrafts over the last decade or two is that it’s virtually impossible to burst a well-made packraft using a human-powered pump, even a high-pressure iSUP barrel pump. You would really have to go at it or leave a fully inflated black boat out in the midday sun. The fabric and simple but strong sewn and heat-welded assembly spreads forces equally across the single chamber hull ring. So much so that MYO packrafts have become a thing for individuals with a big table and a sharp pair of scissors.

With a D7 valved packraft you could use a handheld manometer (left) with a push-fit adapter to read the boat’s pressure. Such manometers have a pin in their throat which pushes open the D7’s sprung valve stem just as the gauge body seals around the valve housing, so getting get a live pressure reading.

I don’t have a D7-equipped packraft at hand, but I do have a Bravo Alu 4 R.E.D barrel pump fitted with a 14.5psi/1 bar inline manometer (left). With an adapter jammed in the Boston’s threaded port I ought to be able to get a full-pressure reading off my Anfibio TXL.

I’m guessing about 2psi / 0.14bar to get a pinging firm TXL. It’s what my early Gumotex IKs used to run, using the now obsolete footpump. When the Seawave came out, rated at 3.6psi/ 0.25 bar, that was quite a revelation, though before that I ran a 4.3psi/ 0.3bar Grabner Amigo and you could have battered down a wall with that boat, proving that rigidity didn’t require drop stitch panels as long as the boat was solidly assembled. At Grabner prices, you’d expect that to be the case.

Back to the test. And the answer is…. just 0.1 bar or 1.4 psi. And this was with the TXL as tight as a drum such as I could never manage with the balloon handpump but might have with a K-Pump Mini.
Now we know.