Boat Testing | Cape Falcon Kayak

Video: Self-rescue tests with the pedal drive canoe

June 2023July 2024Leave a comment

When I was developing our pack canoes I really wanted them to be self rescue-able in the same way as a kayak so I incorporated self rescue loops that would later become the foundation for our catamaran system. This technique is dependent on the right kind of flotation, a kayak paddle, a canoe there...

Video: Sail testing the pedal drive prototype

June 2023July 2024Leave a comment

I took the pedal drive prototype out yesterday in relatively light winds to see how our pop-up sail system would interface with the pedal drive. As expected, not very well. The flippers add enormous drag to what is otherwise a surprisingly swift sail, despite its tiny size. There’s also just way too much risk...

Video: Testing the reverse function of the Hobie 180 Mirage Drive

June 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Here’s a quick look at the reverse function of the Hobie 180 Mirage Drive. Basically you reach down and pull a lever and the flipper fins flip backwards, and then you can pedal in reverse. It’s a cool mechanism, but I’m not sure how much it makes sense for our application. For me reverse...

Video: Comparing three different “flipper” drives

June 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Yesterday we tested three different “flipper” drives in the Prototype Pedal Drive Canoe. The first one is a generic copy of the older Hobie design that is no longer under patent protection. At less than half the price of a newer Hobie Mirage drive it’s definitely tempting, but there is a massive difference in...

Video: A few more clips from our kayak-catamaran sail test

June 2023June 2023Leave a comment

Here’s a few more clips from our kayak-catamaran sail tests last week. There are two versions of this setup: the flat deck version where the front attachment mirrors the rear catamaran attachment, and the standard version, which has a pair of single attachments on the front deck. Of the two, the flat deck is...

Next steps for the pedal-drive canoe

June 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Let’s talk about the next steps for the drive canoe: Right now the plan is to spend the next two weeks testing and upgrading the prototype with and without the drive installed. I need to purchase the Hobie reversible drive with turbo fins to try both of those features and modify the drive box...

Video: More from the first test of the pedal-drive canoe

June 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Before I share the specs on the pedal drive canoe prototype I just want to make it clear that this is not the size I would normally build for myself. (our building system will let you build any size canoe) I deliberately undersized this canoe to try to find the lower limit of canoe...

Video: First look at the pedal drive canoe

June 2023July 2024Leave a comment

Here’s a first look at the pedal drive canoe system in action. As always, there are many things I’m planning to change for the final version, but overall the launch went surprisingly well. The canoe is fast, maneuverable, sufficiently stable, and most importantly can be transformed back into a normal canoe in about 90...

Video: First test of the peaked-deck kayak catamaran

June 2023June 2023Leave a comment

Yesterday we were finally able to do the first test of the kayak catamaran system on the raised front deck version of our F1 kayak design, this time with a pair of 1 square meter Falcon Sails (no relation to us). For anyone who is new here I designed this catamaran system for our...

Video: Float testing an older F1

April 2023June 2023Leave a comment

We took a moment yesterday to float test this older 187 lb size F1. The frame for this kayak was originally built for a customer that I decided to put in a different size, then sat in storage for a couple years. Last week I got an email from someone that it seemed like...

First test of the new 250 lb size F1

March 2023June 2023Leave a comment

We had an extremely successful wrap test of the new 250 pound size F1 frame. This version is 15‘8“ long and 25 inches wide (but paddles like it’s 23 because of my hull shape) and the paddler is 6’5” 265 lbs. The extra 15 pounds is useful because it shows me what this kayak...

Saran wrap testing the new 230lb size LPB kayak

March 2023June 2023Leave a comment

Took the new 230lb size LPB kayak frame down to the water for some shrink wrap testing. I couldn’t get my hands on an appropriately sized paddler for the test so we had to rely on Tom plus some water bags for weight. This is a little risky because there’s no guarantee that the...

a skin on frame kayak wrapped in clear plastic for testing

First saran wrap test of the big guy kayak

February 2023June 2023Leave a comment

First saran wrap test of the big guy kayak prototype. Brian is 6’2” and 265lbs which is just 10 pounds lighter than my target weight for with this build. He’s not a super experienced paddler so I couldn’t get nuanced feedback, but a saran wrap boat never paddles the same as a normally skinned...

On YouTube: Notes from a bad day out

August 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Here’s some raw footage from a bad day out kayak sailing. Broke a rudder cable, burned through 2 cleats, started getting hit by 45mph gusts, (forecast was 15-20) missed my first roll ever under sail, swam for 1/2 an hour, and had to carry the kayak up 45 degree slopes covered with poison oak...

On YouTube: Multi-day Skin on Frame Kayak Catamaran Trip in the Columbia River Gorge

August 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Here’s a short clip from a video I just posted to the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube channel showing our new kayak catamaran system on a multi-day trip in the Columbia River Gorge. Full video below! Details for how to build the catamaran system are already in our skin on frame kayak building course, and we...