Thank you so much for setting me up with a sailing rig for my Pakboat Puffin II. I admit I was skeptical that a sailing rig could be effectively attached to such a lightweight collapsible boat. I envisioned a twisted mass of aluminum tubing and hull fabric drifting in the prevailing wind, sans pilot. The design of your rig is engineered so perfectly, however, that my concerns were unfounded. The Puffin II, with your rig attached, has proven to be sturdy, efficient, and an absolute joy to sail. I now have a fully functional sailboat that holds two people and fits in the trunk of the average car. I enjoy sailing it at Starved Rock State Park, just downstream from where I live on the Illinois River, and I will be taking it to Petosky, Michigan for two weeks in July. I used to own a substantial sailboat but have discovered that it is the experience of sailing that contains the joy, not the size of the boat. Of course, there is also the advantage of needing a closet to store the boat, not an expensive mooring or shipyard. Buddhism teaches that we should earn our daily bread in a way that brings good into the world. You, friend, have achieved that admonition in spades, and the cosmos has surely taken note.

In reaction to the high cost of fossil fuels I just acquired a Daimler Smart Car. I've discovered that I can squeeze two folding bikes into it's rear storage, just the ticket for a day of biking the Chicago lakefront. I have to see if I can shoehorn the Puffin II and the sail rig into it. Just the kind of challenge I like.

Yours,

Dennis Fisher"

"Jim,

I ordered a pakboat puffin II/saranac folding kayak and the deluxe sail kit with pontoons last September,  and have been having great fun with it since.

David Frentup"  May 2010