| Location: Tarutao, Satun, Thailand |
| Technically, these boats are sea kayaks — we use a double-bladed paddle — sometimes. We see them as “exploration tool” — tougher than a rhino, unlimited payload, protective on all sides, excellent in surf, bounces off rocks (or fallen trees), silently stalks rare animals in shallow swamps, and just like us, was never designed to paddle into the wind.
There's no way we could run scheduled trips on Koolau Moloka'i or Ratilevu, Fiji in hard-shell kayaks. Sometimes these coastlines are calm enough for commercial trips, but don’t count on it. Proper heavy-duty inflatables never capsize, bounce on rock beaches, ride 20-foot choppy seas, and even hold an ice cooler.
Dozens of Betacams and professional still photographers shot from our SOTAR’s without incident, and they make great beds when beach camping. We've even paddled a 9-mile river cave with three Black-water rapids in the middle.
Are they sea kayaks? Seem to be, but I really don’t care what you call them |
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