Kruger Sea Wind Canoe #175 is For Sale

UPDATE 10-12-13: Sea Wind #175 has now been SOLD and will be moving to the Chesapeake Bay area when the new owner picks it up in November.

I recently mentioned in the comments section of my post about The Kruger Sea Wind Canoe, that my boat, Sea Wind hull #175 is currently for sale.  I am updating here to let anyone who may be looking for a great deal on one of these boats know that #175 is still available.

It may come as a surprise that I am selling this special boat so soon after buying it, so I'll explain the reason now.  I had been in the market for a cruising sailboat to replace the Tiki 26 catamaran that I sold in August, 2012, and for several months I looked at boats from south Florida to the Texas Gulf Coast and still could not find what I was looking for.  So in March, 2013, when a friend sent me a link to a classified ad listing this Kruger Sea Wind for sale in Minneapolis, MN, I decided to jump on the opportunity to buy it, because these boats are rare on the used market and usually sell fast when they do appear.  At the time, I was ready to get out on the water, and figured it would be a long time before I found the right sailboat.  So, I drove to Minneapolis, picked up the Sea Wind and brought it back to Mississippi, where I have since paddled it on numerous day trips in rivers, lakes and the Gulf, and one three-day camping trip on Bay Springs Lake, on the Tenn-Tom Waterway.

Naturally, not long after buying the Sea Wind the perfect deal on a sailboat came along, and I bought a 1980 Cape Dory 27 in Tarpon Springs, Florida, and sailed it home with my friend, Scott Finazzo, as described in my previous post here.  Of course, a 27-foot sailboat that has to be kept in the water all the time requires a lot more in the way of maintenance and expenses than any canoe or kayak, not to mention all the upgrades and additional equipment I would like to add, so I made the decision to let the Sea Wind go at this time so I can devote my full attention to the sailboat.  Owning a Kruger Canoe, even briefly, fulfilled a long-term dream of mine I've had since first reading about Verlen and Steve's Ultimate Canoe Challenge expedition back in the 1980s.  I'm sure I will own another one at some point, as the boat has lived up to all the hype and is everything the avid paddlers who own one say it is.  But for now, the limited time I will have to use it doesn't do it justice, so I'm hoping to find a serious paddler who will be able to use it to its potential.

Sea Wind #175 is ten years old, built in 2003, and there were two previous owners before me.  It is in excellent condition for its age and has not been abused or likely even used hard.  There are a few of the usual dings and scrapes any boat of this type will sustain in normal use, but overall, the boat still looks great and performs like new.  It comes with the optional spray skirt that encloses the large cockpit for paddling in rough conditions in open water, as well as a waterproof travel cover for the cockpit, and the cockpit canopy that Verlen designed for paddling in hot, tropical conditions.  I'm selling the boat with all these extras as a package deal, and whoever buys it will save a significant amount of money over the cost of a new Sea Wind, not to mention getting it now, rather than having to wait several months depending on the builder's backlog.  You can find current pricing of a new Sea Wind and these accessories here on the Kruger Canoes website:  http://www.krugercanoes.com/Products.html

Email me directly for the price and answers to any questions you may have about this boat.  It is located in south Mississippi, but delivery or shipping may be possible depending on buyer location.

Kruger Sea Wind Canoe

My most recent boat acquisition is a Kruger Sea Wind canoe. While at first glance it may look like a kayak or hybrid of some type with its fore and aft decks and foot-controlled rudder, it is in fact a solo canoe and is paddled with a single blade paddle from the middle of the boat.

The Kruger Sea Wind was designed by the late Verlen Kruger - a product of more than a 100.000 miles of paddling experience (more than any other man in history) and was his ultimate expedition boat after more than 40 prototypes.

Unlike a sea kayak, the Kruger Sea Wind has a long, open cockpit and a comfortable seat that adjusts up and down to suit conditions and type and length of paddle being used.  With its high peaked decks and raised coaming, it's a dry ride in all but the worst conditions and when needed there is a custom fitted waterproof fabric spray deck to seal the cockpit completely.  At 17'2" long with 28" of beam, the boat has a lot more volume than the typical touring sea kayak as well.  With no bulkheads or hatches, gear can be shoved fore and aft under the decks in large dry bags.  The seat can be quickly removed to clear the cockpit floor for sleeping aboard, if necessary.

I've always wanted to try one of these Kruger-designed canoes since back in the 1980's when I was planning my own big kayak trips that were partly inspired by Verlen Kruger's exploits, particularly his 28,000-mile Ultimate Canoe Challenge and his 20,000-mile Two-Continent Canoe Expedition:

While I still like sea kayaks and feel that they are the most seaworthy small boats available, particularly for nasty surf conditions and the like, the Kruger Sea Wind would have many advantages on trips like my journey from the lakes of Canada down the Mississippi River.  For one, it's much easier to portage than a kayak, with a special portage yoke built into the bottom of the seat, that can be quickly deployed by flipping it upside down in it's rack.  Then, it's easier to quickly get in and out of than a kayak, useful for pulling over shoals, logs and other obstacles and landing on muddy riverbanks.  It can carry much more in the way of gear and supplies, allowing you to easily travel a month between resupply.  And finally, it's more comfortable than a kayak, with room to move around and change position, rather than being shoehorned into a narrow cockpit with no options.   The long cockpit also allows for setting up a camera tripod in front of the paddling position - great for wildlife photography - especially from a stable platform like this boat is.  It's also easier to access camera gear, change lenses, etc. than in a kayak.  Most of the video clip at the end of this post was filmed with my Nikon V1 on the tripod in front of me as I paddled.

The main reason I waited so long to try one of these boats was price and availability.  All Kruger Sea Winds are custom-built one at a time by Mark Przedwojewski, who learned the craft directly from Verlen.  And all are super-strong lay-ups of 10 layers of Kevlar, making for a lightweight, yet almost indestructible boat.  A new Sea Wind will set you back around $5500 with no accessories such as the spray deck.  Every once in awhile, a used one does show up, but most owners keep their Krugers for life.  Mine recently came up for sale by a friend of the prior owner, after she passed away last year.  I snatched it up as soon as I found the ad on a paddling classified site, then drove to Minneapolis, Minnesota to pick it up.  Getting it used, I saved a good deal and got the spray deck, bimini top and cockpit cover.  It's got a few character scratches and dings, but it's Kruger and these boats are built to be paddled, not looked at.  Still, it does look good to my eyes anyway, even if it's not perfect.  I really love the lines of the hull and decks.  It is certainly one slippery boat, and moves through the water with less effort than any canoe I've paddled.

Here's a short video I put together from a recent three-day paddling and camping trip with Ernest Herndon on Bay Springs Lake, which is part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in north Mississippi.  Ernest was paddling my Necky Tesla sea kayak most of the time while I put the Kruger through its paces.  He shot the scenes of me paddling the Kruger from the bank during a short break, while the rest was shot from the cockpit while I paddled:


To learn more about these fantastic boats, visit Kruger Canoes.  To read the Verlen Kruger story, check out the book:  All Things Are Possible: The Verlen Kruger Story: 100,000 Miles by Canoe.   Look for updates here too as I try this boat out in a variety of conditions and environments.  I'm still in the process of getting it set up for travel and thinking about where I might like to take it.

Paddling the Pascagoula, 1954

As I've mentioned here before, one of the greatest rewards of being an author is hearing from readers of my books about how reading one of them either inspired them to go out and do something adventurous or reminded them of a past pleasure from a similar experience.

This week I got an email from Mike Warnock, a reader of Paddling the Pascagoula who said he could relate to the narrative because he had made his own journeys down the river in the mid 1950's, along with fellow members of Boy Scout Troop 220 of Moss Point.

In the photo above, from 1954, Mike is the kid in the straw hat in the back of the second canoe. He said the longest trip they did on the river was 5 days and 150 miles. They saw few, if any people, and he doesn't remember seeing any of the sewer discharges or trash Ernest Herndon and I reported in our book from our trip in 2004, fifty years later.

Last summer Troop 220 had a reunion at a cabin out from Lucedale, not far from the river (see photo below). Mike is now living in Idaho and is still an outdoorsman. Their Scoutmaster, Sam Wilkes, now 83, is the man in the front center.

I told Mike that I envied those experiences he had at that perfect age for canoeing a river. Though I went on to become fanatical for many years about canoeing and sea kayaking, I never set foot in a canoe until I was 18 years old. Canoeing was almost unheard of around the small town where I grew up, and we did not have an active Scout Troop that did that sort of thing.

Ernest and I have often discussed the fact that Mississippi, a state blessed with woods and water, including thousands of miles of perfect streams for canoeing, just does not have a canoe culture. Even today, anyone paddling a canoe on the bigger rivers of the state like the Pascagoula or the Pearl is looked on with disbelief by the local fishermen in their John boats with outboards. This may never change, but for those of us who do recognize it, this state has some of the finest canoe waters in the country, and the Pascagoula River System surely has some of the finest in the state. I would have loved the opportunity to make such a journey down the river at the age or ten or twelve, but as it turned out there were plenty of opportunities later, and hopefully will be many more in the future.

New Life for an Old Town Canoe

A recent project that I've spent way too much time on is the restoration of a badly-damaged and well-worn Old Town Canadienne canoe. Here is the finished result:

This canoe belongs to my long-time canoeing partner, Ernest Herndon, who has paddled it many hundreds of miles on rivers and lakes of the region, frequently using it on his research trips in the course of writing such books as Canoeing Louisiana and Canoeing Mississippi. When we paddled the Pascagoula River System from the headwaters to the Gulf in order to co-author the book, Paddling the Pascagoula, Ernest chose his trusty Old Town, while I paddled a hand-built wooden sea kayak.

The Old Town Canadienne is a classic north woods canoe with recurved stems, tumblehome sides, and a large load-carrying capacity. It's ideal for long trips on big rivers and lakes, and can easily carry two men and all their gear and supplies for trips of two weeks or more.

Below, Ernest Herndon getting ready to shove off in the morning after breaking camp on a river sandbar. Here, you can see that the canoe is well-loaded with dry bags, duffel bags and all the other assorted gear needed for a river trip.

Ernest bought this canoe at a local Mississippi salvage store. The Old Town, along with many others in a shipment, came into the salvage store's inventory after suffering some significant damage in transit somewhere. When he first brought it to me back in about 1993, to see if I could fix it up, it looked like it had fallen off a truck at highway speeds. There were several major cracks in the hull, broken all the way through in places, and the aluminum gunwales were bent and even broken in one place.

At that time my boat repair skills were minimal. I patched the fiberglass, reinforced the broken gunwale with a strip of aluminum riveted in place, touched up the red paint with a spray can, and called it good enough. He used it like that for all these years, finally bringing it to me for a complete refit earlier this year. The canoe had lost much of its shape due to the bent and broken aluminum gunwales. The fiberglass patches were finally peeling off, and the floatation bulkheads in each end had broken loose from the hull. Below is a photo of it right before I began the work. It's hard to see all the problems in the photo. It looked much worse in person.

The only cure for the gunwale problem was to get rid of the aluminum rails and rebuild the boat with inwales and outwales made of ash. I started with the inwales, scarfing them to length, then gluing on spacer blocks to the inner sides so they would have, in effect, scuppers all along their mid-length to allow easy dumping of water by turning the canoe on its side.

I first cut away the aluminum rails at the ends and glued in triangular blocks of solid mahogany to serve as a termination point for the inwales, as the extreme ends of the fiberglass hull were too irregular and rounded to carry the inwales all the way. I then removed one aluminum gunwale first, leaving the other one in place to maintain the shape, while the first wood inwale was clamped and glued in place.

After both inwales were fitted and glued in, the outwales came next, in two separate steps. You can see the scuppered inwales in the photo below.

The new ash gunwales imparted much rigidity to the tired old hull, bringing out its true shape and fairing the wobbly sheer that had been so distorted by the fatigued aluminum. I have no doubt that the boat will have an entirely different and better feel to it once it's in the water again.

Below you can see the detail at the stern, which is identical to the bow. The hull sides are sandwiched between the inwales and outwales of ash, and the mahogany end blocks finish out the bow and stern. Note that Ernest wanted me to replace the Canadienne graphic with the more appropriate for him, Mississippian.

A big part of the job I did not photograph step-by-step was the repair of the fiberglass damage and the filling and fairing of the hull. It was, as you would expect, a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, but in the end proved worth it. The hull exterior was then painted with four coats of Interlux Brightside in "Fire Red".

Four coats of spar varnish on all the ash and then the application of new vinyl graphics for the Mississippian name and the Old Town logo completed the job. Tomorrow, I'm meeting Ernest at the nearby Pearl River, where we'll break-in the new refit by paddling the canoe from Hopewell to Georgetown, a river trip of about 10 miles.

Testing the Astral Buoyancy V-Eight PFD

I've been asked on occasion to do equipment reviews for Sea Kayaker magazine. One of the more useful items the editors ever sent me to test was the Astral Buoyancy V-Eight PFD I received from them back at the beginning of summer. I hate wearing any kind of PFD when I'm paddling in hot weather, unless the conditions are so dangerous I just can't justify taking the risk. Usually, you'll see me kayaking with my PFD stuffed under the bungie cords on my stern or foredeck, and most of the time I don't feel I need it unless I'm paddling a surf zone or the wind has picked up enough offshore to build seas large enough to require occasional bracing. On rivers, I don't put one one unless I'm about to run a tricky section of rapids where capsize is a possibility.

This new PFD designed for hot weather paddling may change my mind, though. I tested it in the most miserable conditions imaginable - on a dead still lake in south Mississippi on a typical hot and humid summer afternoon. Here is my assessment of it as published in the current issue of Sea Kayaker magazine, which is on the newstands now:

Astral Buoyancy V-Eight PFD
Reviewed by Scott B. Williams
Sea Kayaker, October 2008

Heat and high humidity are the norm most of the year where I live and do most of my paddling:. the Gulf of Mexico and the slow-moving, swampy rivers that empty into it. Living in the Deep South, I actually prefer hot weather paddling to cooler climates and waters, so when I look elsewhere to travel for kayak touring it’s usually even farther south in the tropics.

Hot weather paddling offers challenges of its own, not the least of which is how to stay comfortable sitting in the cockpit all day under the scorching sun. In cold weather, you can always add more clothing. When temperatures are 90 degrees-plus in the shade and not a breeze is stirring, excess clothing is the last thing you’ll want, and shedding the PFD is also a strong temptation. Paddlers in this kind of heat can often be seen with their PFDs stuffed under the shock cords on their stern or foredecks, and I admit that I’m as guilty as any. Much of the time, the warm and somewhat protected waters I paddle do not merit constant wearing of a PFD, but if it were comfortable enough, I would keep one on anyway.

Most PFDs trap body heat as you paddle, adding greatly to hot weather discomfort. They also chafe bare skin, more of which is exposed when it’s hot as paddlers will likely be shirtless or in a T-shirt or bikini top rather than fully clothed under the PFD. Astral Buoyancy has addressed the need for a comfortable hot-weather PFD with the introduction of their new V-Eight. Billed as “the world’s first breathable lifejacket,” the V-Eight has special contoured foam, which reduces body-to-PFD contact by 70% and has vents ports to allow hot air to escape and fresh air to enter.

I tested the Astral Buoyancy V-Eight by spending a hot June day paddling on Lake Okhissa in the Homochitto National Forest of south Mississippi. This inland lake is surrounded by dense pine and hardwood forests and not a breeze was stirring to bring relief in the 92-degree heat as I paddled for miles over stagnant brown water. This was certainly a day when I would not be wearing my old PFD, as the chances of capsize were slim to none and the water was warm, but I found the Astral Buoyancy V-Eight surprisingly comfortable.

The design places the buoyancy panels high and to the center of the body in the upper back and chest, getting them completely out of the way of the paddle stroke and clear of the rear cockpit coaming. The soft mesh liner on the inside is comfortable against the skin and allows the vent ports to function well. These ports consist of a large rectangular opening in the middle of the back panel and two smaller, oval-shaped openings in each chest panel. The PVC free foam buoyancy panels are dense, but quite flexible and able to contour to the body. The inside surfaces of these foam panels utilize “Airescape technology.” This surface consists of ridges with space between to create air passages and minimize the amount of foam surface in contact with the body. The inside surface of each panel is also specifically contoured to fit the part of the body it will be in contact with. The foam is dense enough to retain its shape after compression, but flexible enough to allow it to contour to the wearer. All the foam throughout each panel is the same material, but glue lines visible in the vent ports indicate that the larger panels, such as the center back one, is laminated from more than one layer.

I found that paddling for hours with this PFD was no nuisance at all and did not feel that it contributed to my discomfort in the heat. The only time I noticed any chafe at all was when the sides of the front panels rubbed against my inner arms while using an extended power stroke, as in sprinting. If additional ventilation is needed, the zipper can be undone completely and the PFD will stay in place with just the front quick-release buckle secured.

When I got into the water to test the V-Eight PFD for buoyancy it easily kept my entire head and face completely clear of the water. With the straps adjusted properly the PFD stayed in place, shifting upward only about an inch while supporting my full weight in deep water. Swimming with the PFD on was natural and unrestricted.

An expandable mesh pocket on the front of the right chest panel provides space for emergency gear such as signaling devices. This pocket is located low on the panel and to the outside of the vent ports in the foam. There is room for a compact VHF radio as well as basic emergency gear. An identical pocket on the other side would allow better distribution of this gear. The placement of the pocket away from the vent ports should not interfere with the venting function. There is a single attachment point for a rescue knife on the right side as well, located above the vent ports. I would prefer to have one of these on each side as well to provide more options for carrying the knife as it may be easier to reach from across the chest rather than on the same side as the drawing hand.

Conclusion: As a hot weather paddler who normally leaves my PFD strapped to the deck, I’m happy to have found a PFD that is specifically designed for my kind of climate. Wearing a PFD at all times is smart, even when it’s hot, and I’m glad the need for a one that is comfortable enough to tolerate in the heat was finally recognized. An additional pocket and attachment point would make Astral Buoyancy V-Eight everything I need in a PFD.

The Astral Buoyancy V-8 PFD comes in red or blue, and is offered in three sizes, measured at widest torso circumference: Small/Medium 31-37”, Medium/Large 38-44”, and Large/Extra Large 45-51”. The buoyancy is rated at minimum 15.5 lbs. at time of manufacture. Shell fabric is 420x210 denier Ripstop Nylon. Liner fabric is Polyester Mesh. Hardware is Acetal Plastic and zippers are self-locking Vislon teeth from YKK. The MSRP is $108.95. Astral Buoyancy Company, 2002 Riverside Drive, Suite 42-A, Asheville, NC 28804. Website: http://www.astralbuoyancy.com/

Canoeing On Location in the Swamps of Mississippi

I spent the day Monday working as a swamp guide, taking a group of Hollywood filmmakers on a scouting trip to check out possible shooting locations for an upcoming major motion picture that will be shot here in Mississippi next year. This was not the first time I worked on this project. Two years ago when the film was in the early planning stages, my friend Travis Easley and I guided the director and some of his associates on an overnight canoe camping trip along the Leaf River. They came back shortly after that wanting to see some more typical Southern swamp scenery, so Ernest Herndon and I took them to the Pascagoula River. Both trips went exceptionally well, and writer/director Gary Ross was impressed with what he saw and assured me they would be returning to film The Free State of Jones here on location.

That was a little over two years ago, and I didn't hear another word about it until Sunday, when they called wanting to know if I could provide two canoes and take them back to the Pascagoula swamp to for a couple hours on Monday. It was a scramble to get ready on such short notice, but we managed and once again the crew was impressed with what they saw here in the Magnolia State. If things go as planned, some of the scenery in the photos below may be coming to the big screen someday in the not too distant future. I can't disclose the location here, but this will likely be one of many spots in the area that will serve as potential backdrops in this story of Newt Knight and his band of deserters who refused to fight for the South during the American Civil War.

Below: Gary Ross, the writer and director, is well known for his work on such films as Sea Biscuit and Pleasantville. He's a real adventurer who loves getting into the backwoods and has really taken a liking to the remote swamps of Mississippi.

Some of these scenes are undoubtedly little changed from the time this story took place.

Newt Knight and his small army of followers eluded the Confederate troops sent to find them by disappearing into the swamps along the Leaf River in Jones County. It would still be easy to hide out in the wetlands along south Mississippi's rivers and streams.

We saw several small 'gators in just a short stretch of paddling along a dead oxbow lake. Where there are young ones, there have to be some big adults as well. The alligator population has really been on the rise here in recent years.

I'm looking forward to more of this kind of location scouting work in the coming weeks and months as this film comes closer to reality. It will be quite an experience to see how a production crew works in such a difficult environment, and it will be awesome to go to the movies and see the woods and waters I have loved all my life on the big screen.