Setting up the Wisper

The weekend was spent trying to set up the kayak and practising how to do it smoothly and with as little pain as possible.

I find no fault with the instructions or manual and the DVD included was just invaluable in making life a little easier. So blame it all on my ineptness, but my inaugural attempt in setting up the kayak took about an hour. I tried to be meticulous in making sure I do not do anything wrong that may damage the boat even before it hits the water.

On day 2 of practice, on my second try, the time taken to set the boat up was 37 min from the opening of the pack to completion. Dismantling took just slightly shorter at just about 30 mins. The bulk of time went to packing it properly into the pack.

Setting up the frame of the boat is easy, and planting the frame into the skin is also a relative;y easy. The most difficult areas are actually,
1. Making sure the frame is centred in the skin.
2. Tensioning the frame with the extension bars
3. And placing of the crossribs especially crossrib 2

But all in all, the kayak feels solid so far on dry land. The component pieces are well made and there was never a situation where the pieces did not fit one another. Design of the frame was well thought of with every piece having its role and doubling up in function sometimes.

Here are the photos of the kayak during the weekend.