|
Sea Wind deep hull version on top.
Standard hull version in profile next.
Then top view which is identical for both versions. |
| Length: |
17'2" |
Other Features
- Flip up rudder
- Adjustable foot controls
- adjustable bucket seat
- Form fitted yoke on flip side of seat
- Front sleeve for catamaran
- Sail mast attachments
- Map and misc. rack
- 20 tie-down loops
(total inside and out)
- Tow rope
- Cam cleats for control lines
- Foam floatation in the ends
10 Layers of Kevlar 49
Optional Accessories
- Rear Catamaran Sleeve
- Spray cover
- Catamaran pole
- Canopy
- Sail
|
| Width Over All: |
28.5" |
| Width at 4" Waterline: |
25" |
Middle Depth Standard:
Deep Hull: |
13.5"
15.5" |
Bow Height Standard:
Deep Hull: |
12"
13" |
Stern Height Standard:
Deep Hull: |
9"
11" |
| Cockpit: |
20" x 87" |
| Weight: |
61 lbs. |
| Capacity: |
500 lbs.
paddler and gear |
The Sea Wind is the ultimate solo canoe for long distance
tripping.
The Sea Wind is a craft not quite like any other in design or
function. The Sea Wind is the ultimate product of over 100,000 miles
of personal experience and the 48 designs and experiments that preceded its conception. The Sea Wind is the third generation of
modifications and improvements of the Loon/Monarch concept -- the boats
that have proved themselves so well.
I paddled the Loon on the Ultimate Canoe Challenge, an
amazing 28,000 miles on every conceivable type of waterway and ocean that
North America has to offer. Over 9,000 miles of that was on three of
the world's four oceans. The Ultimate Canoe Challenge included a lot
of big and turbulent waters and some of the meanest, roughest portages
that could ever be imagined. My original boat is scratched and worn
but still in solid condition -- good to go another 28,000 miles.
"Time and distance showed the rest of the world that Verlen had
done his homework thoroughly. The design as well as the
construction method he devised withstood an incredible test."
-- CANOE MAGAZINE, October, 1984.
The Sea Wind with it's advantage of being the third generation of the
Loon/Monarch has been improved even in those areas that the Loon/Monarch
were so outstanding. No effort or expense has been spared to produce
the most comfortable, most efficient and toughest solo canoe
possible. The Sea Wind is built to go 28,000 miles and beyond.
The Sea Wind will provide a lifetime of joy, satisfaction and hard use.
My canoes already hold more long distance records than any other canoe
design in history. But more important, the Sea Wind is a vehicle
with a wide range of multi-purpose uses. The Sea Wind is capable of going wherever you may want to go and able to
perform your favorite canoe activity. Whether exploring to find out
where a wandering stream comes from, riding a wilderness river to its
mouth, navigating an awesome ocean, lazily enjoying a placid pond or on a
28,000 mile journey of discovery. Wherever the sea breezes blow, the
Sea Wind is right at home.
It has been said that no boat can do everything -- but the Sea Wind
comes close! Here is a canoe that invites and inspires you to reach
out beyond yourself. The Sea Wind can handle it.
|

A Sea Wind Catamaran
watching whales at the Valdez
Peninsula, Argentina in the
Atlantic Ocean 
Verlen
paddling a Sea Wind
around Cape Horn after over
21,000 miles. 
Paddling
in the glaciers around
Moreno, Argentina at the foot of
the Andes Mountains. |
There is irresistible magic to the smooth shape and efficient
functional look of a well designed canoe. It is a thing of beauty
and movement that delights the eye and fires the imagination. A solo
canoe is about as independent and free as paddler can get. In a solo
canoe you are the captain of your ship. You are the total
crew. Every move the canoe makes is made by you. You are its
source of energy and you are the canoe's source of life.
The Sea Wind is the ultimate solo tripping canoe. The combination
of all the Sea Wind's unique features make it as comfortable, convenient,
efficient and seaworthy as any one person canoe that ever parted the
waters. The best way to describe it is to paddle one. If at
all possible, I would urge you to do so. I live on the banks of a
river that is open year round. I invite you to stop by and take a
Sea Wind for a test run. Take it out overnight if you like.
(Just leave me your car keys and pocket book! :)
I am crafting a limited number of custom built "Rolls Royce"
quality Sea Winds, as though each one were for myself. I recognize
the fact that these Sea Winds will be going to special people and that
some of these boats are destined to go on special missions. If the
Sea Wind is for you, better contact me soon -- before I embark on my next
big journey in my own Sea Wind!
Seaworthiness
| Most people think paddling down the Colorado
River is a major accomplishment. But Verlen Kruger and Steven
G. Landick paddled up the Colorado during the Ultimate Canoe
Challenge |
The Sea Wind gives a whole new meaning to the word seaworthiness.
The Sea Wind's initial stability is excellent, and the final stability is
superb. It handles very calmly and predictably in wild turbulent
water, rip tides, cross currents, whirlpools, boils and big water.
With the Sea Wind's rounded hull shape and full ends there is nothing for
turbulent water to work on so the Sea Wind doesn't get yanked or tossed
around as a finer lined or shorter canoe would. There is no other
canoe hull I would have wanted to go UP the Grand Canyon with.
|
Paddling upstream in the
Grand Canyon |
The Sea Wind is more stable and dryer than its predecessors. It
has up to 50% more volume in the aft 1/3 of its length than the
Loon. It is wider across the deck all the way which gives the hull
more flare, throwing the splash away and increasing lift for final
stability. The Sea Wind is up to 2" wider behind the rear of
the cockpit and 2" deeper in the hull besides being fuller toward the
ends than the Loon.
|

A Sea Wind Catamaran
in the Caribbean
Verlen powers through the surf
of the Pacific Ocean. Actions
speak louder than words. |
The Sea Wind tends to ride with the waves instead of diving into
them. When the Loon was fully loaded, the rear gunnel would be flush with
the water. When the Loon tipped down, it went under water losing
rather than gaining stability as the Sea Wind is designed to do because of the
deeper hull. How I wish I had had the Sea Wind that time off the
Oregon coast at Cape Blanco -- common sense and seaworthiness is the
greater part of safety.
There is enough foam flotation poured into the ends of the Sea Wind to
keep the canoe afloat in case of capsize.
When traveling with a companion, two Sea Winds can be connected to
form a very stable catamaran for sailing, fishing, hunting, sleeping, or cooking.
Two Sea Winds or Dreamcatchers can be catamaraned together quick and easy,
no tools, in rough water, in one minute. This greatly expands
comfort, safety, and various uses of a canoe.
Comfort
|

A Sea Wind providing
shade in the Amazon Basin
|
You sit on a comfortable
bucket seat in the middle of your own world, surrounded by all that you
need. Everything is within reach for your convenience and control.
The seat is installed in the Kevlar hanger at a height of 4",
6", or 8" depending on your comfort and the water
conditions. You can remove the seat to allow sleeping in the boat.
| Some portage statistics from the Ultimate Canoe
Challenge --
Total Number 653
Total Distance 523 miles
Single Longest 68 miles
Highest Elevation 7,400 feet |
The foam padded form fitting yoke is strongly riveted to the under side
of the seat. To use it, flip the seat/yoke assembly over, quick and
easy. It is held securely in place by shock cords. The canoe balances perfectly whether on the water or your
shoulders. This combination of seat/yoke makes the Sea Wind one of
the most comfortable canoe you'll ever portage.
Capacity
|

A Sea Wind Catamaran
|
The Sea Wind is an extra high capacity, high performance, one-person canoe designed to
handle a big load in big waters on big trips. The Sea Wind easily
handles a 200 pound paddler and 300 pounds of gear. I have traveled
many miles with up to 350 pounds of food, water and gear.
The Sea Wind is large enough to sleep in quite comfortably. To
sleep in the Sea Wind simply remove most of the gear from the bow or push
it forward, remove the seat, put down your sleeping pad and crawl into
your sleeping bag.
In an emergency, the Sea Wind is large enough for two people. I
have made a very pleasant week-long journey with two people in one
boat. The most comfortable way to carry a passenger is to have the
second person sit on a cushion behind the seat (back to back).
The Sea Wind paddles easily and handles exceptionally well fully loaded
(it was designed around a load), yet when empty, it is as much fun as any play boat. Contrary
to what some may believe, a larger, longer boat paddles easier, safer, and
with better handling characteristics than many smaller less stable
craft. For all its size and stability the Sea Wind is as fast as
some of the marathon racing C-1's.
Construction
The outer layer of fabric is expensive S-glass with three full layers
of Dupont Kevlar 49 bonded together with a special high impact vinylester resin with exceptional adhesion and crack resistant properties
called Derakane by Dow Chemical Company. Additional layers of Kevlar
are applied in a complex pattern according to high stress or abrasion
requirements. The full length of the bottom has no less than 10 layers of
Kevlar.
A rope of Kevlar strands is glassed into the curve and rise of both the
bow and stern -- making the ends of the canoe log-jumping, rock-splitting
tough!
The deck and rim are molded in one piece. Then the hull and deck are
strongly bonded together with three layers of Kevlar for a total weight of
61 pounds.
Cockpit
|

Cockpit detail. Aluminum hoops
support the spray skirt for
heavy water. Catamaran pole
shown installed -- no tools
needed. |
The factors of comfort, convenience and efficiency have gone into the
design of the Sea Wind cockpit. The inside measurements of 20"
by 7'3" are extra large. This opening allows for quick and easy
access to all gear storage areas. There is lots of room to stretch
out -- lean back on your pack when you want to relax. There are no
thwarts. It is roomy enough to take your dog along, hunting, hauling
a deer back to camp, fishing, ice chest, photo equipment. The Kevlar seat hangers permanently bond together the
cockpit rim to the bottom of the canoe. This serves the multiple
purpose of making a very strong seat support, a rigid cockpit rim, and
helps hold the shape of the canoe.
A cockpit has many unique advantages. The main one is being able
to make the gunnel line lower and narrower so the paddler can reach the
water better. At the same time a cockpit makes the rim of the boat
higher and therefore the boat is dryer. The rim is reinforced
and strong enough to walk on or to car-top upside down.
A cockpit is the strongest, easy, and driest way to install a spray
cover. A shock cord fits under the rim and the addition of a few
snaps under the lip of the rim effectively seals the boat from splashes.
The spray cover will repel wave pounding.
The Sea Wind cockpit has a high wave cutting shape. The rim is
the widest in the front where it is most needed.
Rudder
The Sea Wind rudder is constructed of heavy gauge tempered aluminum
alloy and stainless steel for extra rugged use. The rudder is sturdy
enough and shaped to slide over a log without slowing down or hanging
up. The fin flips up and down automatically but can also be
controlled by a line from the seat. Heretofore, the potential
benefits of a rudder have never been fully utilized. Don't be
surprised if you see more rudders in the future.
Economy Version
There is also an economy version of the Sea Wind called the Sea Breeze
available. No frills, made with a proprietary lay-up. Half
fiberglass and half polyester cloth and the same high impact resin as the
expedition canoes. This is still a tough boat.
Options
- Rear Catamaran Sleeve
- Spray Cover -- Heavy duty, custom made with two extra heavy
non-locking zippers, heavy shock cord fits snuggly under the rim, and
an elastic
waist band installed with aluminum hoops and snaps.
- HD Catamaran pole -- same as above but with a double wall
- Canopy -- Rain and sun shade, 37" high, can be made higher,
50" x 50" waterproof fabric over a 37" x 37"
frame, installation hardware and carrying bag
|